The futures traded lower on Wednesday morning as traders and investors prepare for an onslaught of fourth-quarter earnings reports, which are expected to be kicked off by some of the major money center banks on Friday. With all of the major indexes and the Russell 2000 still trading close to all-time highs, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021, as a pullback could be in the offing.
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 Wednesday, January 13, 2021.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV | ABBV Price Prediction) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bradesco BBI. The pharmaceutical leader has traded between $62.55 and $110.78 a share over the past 52 weeks, and it has a Wall Street consensus price objective of $117.10. The stock ended Tuesday’s trading at $109.78 a share.
[nativounit]
Acadia Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: AKR) was raised at Jefferies from Hold to Buy with a $17 price target. The posted consensus target is $16.08. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $14.67.
Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with an $18 target at BMO Capital Markets. That compares with a higher $20.82 consensus target and Tuesday’s $17.10 close.
Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital, which also lifted the price target to $130. The $90.86 consensus is less than Tuesday’s $97.80 closing print.
Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas. Shares of the beer behemoth have traded between $32.58 and $80.43 over the past 52 weeks. The consensus price objective is $76.47 a share.
Automatic Data Inc. (NYSE: ADP) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Evercore ISI, which dropped the price target to $143. The consensus target is $167.11. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $169.06 a share.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded at Baird from Outperform to Neutral with a $60 target. It has a consensus target of $57.85. Shares were last seen on Tuesday above both levels at $63.54.
Commvault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $67 target price at Keybanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is much lower at $58.14. The stock closed Tuesday at $58.40, up close to 4% on the day, and shares were higher in Wednesday’s premarket.
Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which pondered whether it is time to get back into the oil stocks. Shares most recently closed at $62.87, in a 52-week range of $14.55 to $92.74.
[recirclink id=829056]
DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) was downgraded from Buy to Hold with a $74 price target at HSBC Securities. The consensus target price is $75.32. The stock closed on Tuesday at $86.36, after a gain of almost 3%. As it is trading right below the 52 weeks high, this could be a valuation call.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, where the analysts also lifted the price target to $56. The consensus target for the integrated energy giant is $49.33. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $47.88 a share.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $310 price objective at Guggenheim. The consensus target for the retail behemoth is $304.82. The shares ended Tuesday’s session at $276.33.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised at Wedbush from Neutral to Outperform with a $44 price target. The consensus target for the homebuilder is $42.86. The final trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $34.15 a share.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was raised at Jefferies from Hold to Buy with a $415 price target. The consensus target is just $370.43. The final trade on Tuesday came in at $342.92 a share.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, which has a $286 price target for the railroad. The consensus target was last seen at $250.78. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $256.44 a share.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup, which has a $15 price target. The posted consensus target is higher at $17. The stock closed on Tuesday at $26.18, but shares were down over 3% in the premarket.
Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $690 price objective at Benchmark. That compares with a $662.04 consensus target. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $505.75, and they were up almost 3% in the premarket action.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at MKM Partners, where the price target on the social media giant was lifted to $60. That compares with a $46.49 consensus target across Wall Street and Tuesday’s $47.04 close.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was raised at Jefferies from Neutral to Buy with a $250 price target. The consensus target is set at $231.94. The shares closed trading on Tuesday at $208.86.
[recirclink id=829035]
A new Goldman Sachs research report includes six top telecom services picks that are dominant players in their specific subsectors and offer more conservative growth stock investors outstanding short-term and long-term potential.
Six oil exploration and production stocks have perked up so far this year but still have plenty of upside potential.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Aflac, Commercial Metals, ConocoPhillips, Nio, Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, Target and Wells Fargo.
[wallst_email_signup]
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks