The futures traded flat on Wednesday as investors took yet another wild ride Tuesday as we opened up the market holiday-shortened week. The Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq once again all printed intraday all-time highs before slipping back. Investors continue 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, and many are urging caution.

Though fourth-quarter earnings results are slowing, most across Wall Street still are not only 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 many trades crowded, 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 Wednesday, February 17, 2021.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) was raised at BofA Securities from Neutral to Buy with a $147 price target. The consensus target is lower at $126.59. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $127.95 a share.

Anterix Inc. (NASDAQ: ATEX) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which also raised the price target to $50. The higher consensus target is $73.25. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $40.55, after an almost 6% gain for the day.

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE: BHC) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $42. The consensus target is $29.06. The stock closed on Tuesday at $31.32.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, which lowered the price target to $39. The consensus target is a much higher $58.17. The stock closed Tuesday at $28.44, down a stunning 38% after safety concerns on the firm’s sickle cell gene therapy were noted. Shares were up 3% in Wednesday’s premarket.

Cortexyme Inc. (NASDAQ: CRTX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which lowered the price target to $34. The much higher consensus target is $66.63. Tuesday’s closing price of $30.72 was down almost 36% after the company said it halted trials for its Alzheimer’s drug candidate.

Covetrus Inc. (NASDAQ: CVET) was started at Barclays with an Overweight rating and a $48 price target. The consensus target is just $27, and Tuesday’s closing price of $37.58 came after almost a 5% pullback on the day.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which raised the price target to $160. The consensus target is $101.17, and Tuesday’s $118.43 close came after an almost 4% retreat for the day. Shares rebounded almost 3% in premarket trading.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which ponders whether, with the lowest price-to-earnings ratio of the FAANG stocks, this is a value. Shares most recently closed at $273.97 and have a consensus price target of $337.38.

Fortive Corp. (NYSE: FTV) was downgraded at Morgan Stanley from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $75 price target. The consensus target is $76.53. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $69.80.

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) was started with an Overweight rating at Barclays with a $600 price target. That is versus the consensus target of $539. The shares were last seen Tuesday at $538.16.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the COVID-19 pandemic is still hitting this medical technology company’s business. Shares last closed at $791.95 but have a consensus price target of $780.93.

KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE: KAR) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell with an $11 price target at Guggenheim. The consensus target is $22.44. The stock closed Tuesday at $18.46, down almost 4% for the day, and the shares were pummeled in the premarket, down over 20%, after it posted a stinging quarterly loss.

Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $135. The consensus target is just $81.29. Tuesday’s final trade hit the tape at $97.49. Shares were up almost 13% in premarket trading after the company posted stellar results late Tuesday.

Mesa Air Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MESA) was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA Securities, which raised the price target on the regional carrier to $15. That compares with a much lower $7.70 consensus and Tuesday’s $10.60 close, after almost a 7% gain for the day. The stock was up an additional 5% in the premarket as well.
Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE: NEXA) was downgraded at Citigroup from Buy to Neutral with an $11 price target. The consensus target is $10.12, and the shares were last seen at $10.44 on Tuesday.

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, which also raised the price target to $125. The consensus target is $107.40. The stock closed on Tuesday at $99.03.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised its price target to $34. William Blair downgraded it to Underperform from Market Perform. The consensus target is $19.83. The stock was nailed on Tuesday, closing down almost 13% at $27.84, after posting disappointing quarterly results. The shares bounced back some, almost 2%, in the premarket.

Regal-Beloit Corp. (NYSE: RBC) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $155 target at Keybanc Capital Markets. That posted consensus target is $136.29. The stock closed Tuesday at $132.95, up 3% on the day.

Rexnord Corp. (NYSE: RXN) was raised at Keybanc Capital Markets from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $60 price objective. The consensus objective is just $44.78. Tuesday’s closing price was $45.10 a share, following almost a 9% gain after the company posted a profit well above analyst estimates.

USA Compression Partners L.P. (NYSE: USAC) was downgraded from Outperform to Sector Perform with a $16 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is $15, and the last trade for Tuesday came in at $15.03 per share.

Jefferies sees the potential for the United States economy to experience the best growth in 40 years. Five of the firm’s top cyclical stock picks offer solid value and big upside potential, and the companies are among the leaders in their specific sectors.

Five notable health care laggard stocks appear to have plenty of upside potential. Most of them are dividend payers too.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Express, BlackBerry, BP, CrowdStrike, Noble Midstream, Waste Management and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Alphabet, Constellation Brands, Mattel and more.

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