The futures traded decidedly lower on Friday, as investors took stock of more all-time intraday highs on the major indexes, and they start to get an idea of the initiatives from the Biden administration for the first 100 days in office. With fourth-quarter earnings reports continuing to stream in, 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 all the major indexes and the Russell 2000 closing near those 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 Friday, January 22, 2021.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE | ADBE Price Prediction) was started at Goldman Sachs with a Buy rating and a $580 price objective. The lower Wall Street consensus target is $565.87. The last trade for Thursday came in at $472.02.
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Aptiv PLC (NASDAQ: APTV) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Overweight to Neutral with a $134 price target. The consensus figure is $133.42. The stock closed most recently at $143.85. The shares were down almost 3% in Friday’s premarket.
CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, which has a $92 price target for the legacy railroad company. The consensus target is $99.13. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $91.61. The shares were down almost 3% after the company reported earnings that surpassed estimates but revenues fell.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this company and its arcade-driven fun may be a thing of the past as society’s new normal pushes away from crowded spaces. Shares last closed at $33.69 and have a consensus price target of $31.30.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was raised at JPMorgan from Neutral to Overweight with a $14 price target. The consensus target for the venerable automaker is a much lower $9.47. The stock was last seen Thursday at $11.53, up over 6% on the day.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $178 price target at BTIG Research. That compares with a $148.29 consensus target and Thursday closing trade of $149.76.
Gentherm Inc. (NASDAQ: THRM) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Neutral to Underweight with a $60 price objective. The consensus target is $50.67. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $70.38.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company is adaptable and resourceful, and no matter what the economy throws at it, Goldman Sachs will come out on top. Shares most recently closed at $289.37 and have a consensus price target of $327.06.
Hubspot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was started with an Outperform rating and a $470 price objective at BMO Capital Markets. The consensus target is $413.87 and Thursday’s final trade was at $388.76.
Intel Inc. (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its price target raised to $79 from $75 at Cowen, which kept an Outperform rating. The consensus target for the venerable semiconductor company is $57.59. The shares closed on Thursday at $62.46. Despite posting record revenues after the close, shares were down almost 5% in the premarket.
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Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which has a $210 price target. The consensus target is $173.06, and shares were last seen Thursday at $167.91.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was started with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs, which has a $285 price target for the software giant. The consensus target is $243.33, and Thursday’s last trade was at $224.97.
nCino Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO) was started with a Buy rating and a $90 price target at Needham. The analyst noted the company is a leading provider of a single code-based SaaS digital banking platform for banks with a focus on modernizing and streamlining middle and back-office operations such as loan origination services, deposit account onboarding and credit analysis. The posted consensus target is higher at $93.67. The stock closed on Thursday at $70.75.
Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette, which also lifted the price target on the bank to $120. The $102.07 consensus also compares with Thursday’s last trade of $94.22.
Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ: QDEL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, which has a $250 price target. The consensus target is up at $269. Thursday’s last trade hit the tape at $218.49, after a gain of almost 3% for the day.
Rust Street Interactive Inc. (NYSE: RSI) was started with a Buy rating and a $35 price target at Needham. That compares with a $28 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $24.32, after retreating almost 4% for the day.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was started at Goldman Sachs with a Buy rating and a $315 target price. The consensus target is $274.71. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $222.17.
Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with a $95 price target at BMO Capital Market. The consensus target is $97.55 and Thursday’s last trade was at $92.44.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Summit Insights. The hard drive maker’s shares have traded in a 52-week range of $39.02 to $66.69 and have a consensus price target of $61.91. The stock closed above that level Thursday at $62.94, up almost 3% on the day.
Snowflake Inc. (NASDAQ: SNOW) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs, which has set a $310 target. That compares with a slightly lower $309.61 target and Thursday’s final print of $286.32.
Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel with a $34 price target. That is versus the consensus target of $32.95. The stock closed Thursday at $28.77 down over 3%.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which also raise the firm’s price target to $200. The consensus target is $185.54. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $171.28 a share.
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Somewhat surprisingly, BofA Securities has added a tech giant’s stock to its US 1 list of top picks. Two other top stocks were added to the list as well.
Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Chevron, Citigroup, Facebook, Fastly, Paypal, Snap, Twitter and Under Armour.
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