The futures traded higher on Tuesday to start a holiday-shortened trading week. Last week ended with the S&P 500 printing a new all-time high and the other indexes very close to records. Investors are continuing to cheer the possibility of a big stimulus package becoming a reality, and fourth-quarter earnings have continued to come in very strong. Top analysts on Wall Street are pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, and many are urging caution.
Even with fourth-quarter earnings results slowing, most across Wall Street still are not only be examining the results, but also looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With stocks very overbought and major Wall Street firms warning of an impending 5% to 10% correction, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 2021.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with the 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 Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB | ALB Price Prediction) was raised at Deutsche Bank from Hold to Buy with a $150 price target. The consensus target is $133.38. The last trade on Friday came in at $164.64, up 3% on the day, and the shares were up an additional 4% in Tuesday’s premarket.
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Anaplan Inc. (NYSE: PLAN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which has set a $100 price target. The lower consensus target is $79.94, and Friday’s close was at $82.26. The shares were up almost 4% in the premarket.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded from Outperform to Neutral with a $126 price target at Baird. The consensus target is higher at $130.32, and Friday’s final share price was $129.62.
Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAM) was started at Wells Fargo with an Overweight rating and a $145 price target. The consensus target is down at $76. The last trade for Friday came in at $105 a share.
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BlackBerry Ltd. (NYSE: BB) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Canaccord Genuity. The shares have traded in a wide 52-week range of $2.70 to $28.77 and have a $7.44 consensus target. The stock has been a target of the Reddit legion of traders, and it closed Friday at $13.04.
Blackline Inc. (NASDAQ: BL) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $137. The consensus target is $145.75. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $133.47, and that was down over 11% for the day, despite posting strong earnings.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was raised from Underperform to Sector Perform with a $28 price target at Scotiabank. The consensus target for the integrated energy giant is $27.82. The shares closed Friday at $21.91, up almost 3% for the day.
Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this health care plan provider is hoping some recent acquisitions will kick-start its recovery after a difficult 2020. Shares last closed at $59.20 and have a consensus price target of $80.74.
Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: CDAY) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, which also raised the price target to $115. The lower target is $107.80, and a Friday’s close was at $97.71.
ContextLogic Inc. (NYSE: WISH) was raised to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital. Since the recent red-hot IPO, the stock has traded between $17.41 and $32.85 a share. It also has a $26 consensus price target. The last trade for Friday hit the tape at $27.45, down almost 3% on the day.
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was started with a Buy rating and a $280 price target at Canaccord Genuity. The consensus target for the cybersecurity software leader is $220.15. Friday’s last trade was reported at $242.10, up over 3%.
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CuriosityStream Inc. (NASDAQ: CURI) was started with a Buy rating and a $23 price target at Roth Capital. The consensus target is $16.67. The stock was last seen on Friday at $18.69, after a one-day retreat of almost 5%. Shares rebounded smartly in the premarket, up over 7%.
Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE: XOG) was raised at Wells Fargo from Underweight to Overweight with a $38 price objective. The consensus target price is $32.65. The stock closed on Friday at $31.80.
Futu Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: FUTU) was started at Morgan Stanley with an Overweight rating and a $253 price target. That compares with the much consensus target of $86.95 and a Friday close of $147.57, which was down over 6%. The shares were up 6% in the premarket trading.
MSG Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MSGE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, which raised the price target on the shares to $105. The consensus target is $104.33, and Friday’s closing trade was $97.02, down almost 5% after reporting disappointing results.
Noble Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: MPLX) was downgraded from Overweight to Neutral with a $14 price target at Piper Sandler. The posted consensus target is $12.92. The last trade for Friday was reported at $13.53.
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was downgraded to Neutral for Outperform at Baird, which lowered the price target for the waste giant to $96. That compares with a higher $106 consensus target and a final print on Friday at $91.26.
Unity Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ: UBX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup, which raised the price target to $6. The consensus target is $5.83. The last trade for Friday came in at $8.21, and the shares were up almost 3% in premarket action.
Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, which lowered the price target to $122. The consensus target for the waste giant is $130. Friday’s last trade came in at $113.25.
XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which suggests that shares of this logistics provider could be poised for a breakout after impressive fourth-quarter earnings results. The stock most recently closed at $121.31 a share and has a consensus price target of $136.20.
Zscaler Inc. (NYSE: ZS) was started at Canaccord Genuity with a Buy rating and a $250 price objective. The consensus target is lower at $213.33. The last trade on Friday came in at $226.48
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Goldman Sachs remains very positive on the top cybersecurity and analytics stocks, and with good reason. Four of its top picks are outstanding ideas for aggressive growth investors looking to add this hot technology silo.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AngloGold Ashanti, Fisker, News Corp, QuantumScape, Williams-Sonoma, YETI and Zillow. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Duke Energy, Hyatt, Royal Caribbean and more.
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