The futures were modestly higher Thursday morning as investors marveled at yet another big rally on Inauguration Day, as all three major indexes and the Russell 2000 printed fresh all-time highs by the closing bell. With fourth-quarter earnings reports starting to pour in, most across Wall Street will not only be examining the results but also looking to see what guidance for the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With the indexes at 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 Thursday, January 21, 2021.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) was resumed with coverage at Piper Sandler, which has an Overweight rating and a $2,056 price target. The Wall Street consensus target for the technology giant is $1,934.32. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $1,880.07 a share.
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American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $93 price target at Guggenheim. The consensus target for the utility is $93.41. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $80.75.
Anheuser Busch Inbev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was downgraded from Hold to Sell at Societe Generale. The beer giant has traded in a 52-week range of $32.58 to $78.47 and has a consensus price objective of $77.19. The stock closed Wednesday at $68.30.
Capri Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: CPRI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which also raised the price target to $56. The consensus target is $40.81. The stock closed Wednesday at $43.58.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which set a $98 price target. The consensus target for the integrated oil behemoth is higher at $104.06. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $95.38.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg, though the firm lifted the price target on the bank to $70. The higher consensus target is $78.01, and Wednesday’s closing print was $63.25.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was raised at BofA Securities from Neutral to Buy with a $65 price objective. The consensus target is $54.75, and the shares closed Wednesday’s session at $52.84. The stock traded almost 4% higher in Thursday’s premarket.
Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank, which also lifted the price target on the retailer to $60. The consensus target is a much lower $41.75. The stock closed Wednesday at $69.32
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was resumed with coverage at Jefferies, which has an Underperform rating and a $39 target price. The consensus target is up at $50.80, and the shares were last seen at $49.53 on Wednesday.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was resumed in coverage with a Neutral rating and a $275 price objective at Piper Sandler. The consensus target for the social media giant is $322.24, and the stock closed Wednesday at $267.48.
Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY) was raised at Oppenheimer from Perform to Outperform with a $125 price target. That compares with the $76.50 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $97.55. Shares traded almost 4% higher in the premarket.
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Freshpet Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT) was raised at Oppenheimer from Perform to Outperform with a price target of $175. The consensus target is $144.17. The stock closed on Wednesday at $146.53.
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) saw its target price raised to $59 from $46 at Benchmark, which reiterated its Buy rating. The consensus target is $42.92, and Wednesday’s closing print was $47.67 a share.
PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $300 price target at BTIG Research. The consensus target is lower at $244.92. The last trade on Wednesday hit the tape at $244.26.
Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, which also lifted the target price to $163. The consensus target is $140.86. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $134.45, after more than a 4% gain for the day. Shares were up another 2% in the premarket as well.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was started with an Overweight rating and a $66 price target at Piper Sandler. The posted consensus target is much lower at $48.53, and shares closed Wednesday at $52.20, up almost 4% on the day. Shares were close to 3% higher in the premarket.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which also lifted its price target to $50. That compares with a consensus target of $39.06. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $39.81.
Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, which also pushed up the target price to $110. That compares with the lower $104.64 consensus target and Wednesday’s $103.85 final trade.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was started with a Neutral rating and a $45 price target at Piper Sandler. The consensus target is $47.09, and Wednesday’s closing price was $47.60, after almost a 4% gain on the day.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which moved the price target to $22. The consensus target for the apparel giant is much lower at $15.08. The last trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $18.61. The shares were up almost 4% in premarket action.
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Goldman Sachs has four out-of-favor stock picks have been reasonably strong but still have double-digit upside potential for 2021. Plus, they act somewhat defensively when the going gets tough.
Wednesday morning’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, Boeing, Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmithKline, Halliburton, Kroger, Netflix and Pioneer Natural Resources. Analyst calls made later in the day included Caterpillar, Delta Air Lines, PepsiCo, Tesla and more.
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