The futures traded sharply lower Monday morning as we begin the holiday-shortened trading week before Christmas. Fears over a mutant strain of the COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, which has resulted in a tough lockdown in London and southeast England, also led to a number of countries to block travel from Britain. With the final quad witching options and futures expiration for the year on Friday, we saw some rising volatility, which looks to be continued this week and next as portfolio rebalancing for the end of the year, and the new pandemic fears give investors and portfolio managers reasons to put shares up for sale. Investors should be reviewing portfolios and adjusting positioning for 2021.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, December 21, 2020.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY | ALLY Price Prediction) was started with an Outperform rating and a $41 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The Wall Street consensus target for the bank is $38.19. The last trade on Friday came in at $33.56 a share.
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Avalon Bay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) was downgraded from Overweight to Neutral with a $182 price objective at JPMorgan. The giant apartment real estate investment trust has a $170.72 consensus target, and a Friday’s closing price was $158.44.
Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral with a $24 price target at Compass Point. The posted consensus target is $24.25. The shares were last seen trading at $24.74.
CDK Global Inc. (NASDAQ: CDK) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the automotive industry is still feeling the pain of the pandemic and this stock is seeing estimates fall. Shares last closed at $50.97 and have a consensus price target of $60.60.
Digital Turbine Inc. (NASDAQ: APPS) was downgraded from Buy to Hold with a $60 price target at Canaccord Genuity. The consensus target is $43.42, and Friday’s closing price was $57.44, after a 7.4% gain on the day. That is coming back fast as the stock was down almost 6% in Monday’s premarket.
Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR) was started with a Buy rating and a $253 price target at Goldman Sachs. The stock had a hot initial public offering last year and has been on an incredible run, and it has a $176 consensus target. The final trade on Friday came in at $209.29.
Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley Securities, which did raise the price target to $11.50 from $10.50 though. The consensus price target is $9.12. The last trade Friday was reported at $11.19, and shares were up almost 5% in the premarket despite the downgrade.
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Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY) was started Buy and was added to the Goldman Sachs Conviction List. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $6.76 to $16.22, and they have a consensus price objective of $17.16. The last trade on Friday was reported at $16.22.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) was downgraded from Buy to Hold with a $30 target at Jefferies. The consensus is up at $56.39, and Friday’s closing price was $28.33, after retreating almost 7% on the day. Numerous class-action lawsuits have been filed against the company.
Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) was started with a Neutral rating and a $312 price objective at Goldman Sachs. That compares with a $319.50 consensus target and Friday’s close at $284.37.
Magnite Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNI) was raised to Buy with a $30 price target at Needham. The stock is being hailed as one of the firm’s top picks for 2021. That consensus price target is $19.63, which compares to the final print Friday of $23.25. Shares were up almost 4% in the premarket.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, where the analysts also raised the firm’s target price to $272. Wall Street has a $240.26 target, and the final trade on Friday was posted at $218.59.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) saw its target price at Telsey Advisory Group raised to $175. The firm cited yet another strong quarter from the apparel and shoe giant. The $149.01 consensus price objective compares with Friday’s close at $137.28. Shares were 4% higher in premarket trading.
Ozon Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: OZON) was started as a Buy with a $53 target price at Goldman Sachs. The consensus target is $20.40, and Friday’s final print was $45. Despite the initiation, shares were down almost 4% in the premarket.
SLM Corp. (NASDAQ: SLM) was started with a Sector Perform rating and a $14 price objective at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is $12.27, and shares closed Friday at $12.10 apiece.
SolarWinds Corp. (NYSE: SWI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, which also lowered the price target to $15. The consensus target is $23.62, and $14.81 was Friday’s closing price.
Sterling Construction Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: STRL) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this construction name is looking at rising earnings estimates and has some solid earnings momentum on its side. Shares most recently closed at $19.99 and have a consensus price target of $22.00.
Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) was downgraded from Buy to Hold with a $31 price objective at HSBC Securities. The consensus target is $29.29. The shares were last seen trading at $28.86.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was upgraded to Buy from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, which also raised the price target on the retail behemoth to $170. The consensus target is $161.75. The last trade on Friday hit the tape at $145.95.
Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) was raised from Underweight to Neutral with a $24 price target at JPMorgan. The consensus target is $22.41, and Friday’s close was at $21.81. Shares traded down almost 3% in the premarket.
Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE: WLK) was raised from Neutral to Overweight with a $92 price objective at JPMorgan. The consensus objective is $73.89, and Friday’s closing price was $81.66 a share.
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A new Stifel research report includes the firm’s biotech stock picks for 2021. Five of them have huge upside to the posted price targets.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, Aurora Cannabis, DoorDash, Dow, FedEx, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Oracle, Palantir and ViacomCBS.
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