The futures traded lower Tuesday after investors welcomed March in with a massive rally on Monday. The combination of the stimulus bill approval in the U.S. House of Representatives and positive news that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved was the wind under the markets wings. Despite the big gains, top analysts continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, and many are urging caution.
With fourth-quarter earnings results all but complete, most across Wall Street have not only been examining the final results but 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 still warning of the potential for 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 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 Tuesday, March 22, 2021.
ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT | ADT Price Prediction) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which lowered the price target on the home security giant to $8. The consensus target is $11.16.
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Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $119 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is higher at $125.31. The shares were last seen Monday at $95.94.
Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $65. The consensus target is $68. The final trade for Monday came in at $63.27.
Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD) was started with a Hold rating and a $13 price target at Stifel. The consensus target is $18.63, and the stock closed Monday at $11.79, down 4% on the day.
Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure PLC (NYSE: AY) was raised at Raymond James from Market Perform to Outperform with a $47 price target. The consensus target is $46, and the stock closed Monday at $37.06.
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Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) was raised to Sector Outperform from Neutral at CIBC, which also raised the price target to $86. The consensus target is set lower at $71.51. The final Monday trade hit the tape at $59.74.
Beyond Meat Inc. (NYSE: BYND) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. The stock has traded in a wide 52-week range of $48.18 to $221, and it has a consensus price target of $122.88. The shares closed above that level at $147.10 on Monday.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ; AVGO) saw its price target raised to $470 from $415 at Cowen, where the analyst’s checks show continued iPhone unit upside despite industry speculation of potential cuts. The consensus target is higher at $481.03. The last trade on Monday came in at $489.58, up over 4% on the day.
Cryoport Inc. (NASDAQ: CYRX) was resumed in coverage at Needham with a Buy rating and a $73 price target. The lower consensus target is $65, and Monday’s close of $62.49 was up over 5% for the day.
Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which has a $77 price target for the chemical giant. The consensus target is $57.59, and Monday’s closing print was $51.54, which was up almost 4% on the day.
Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $145. The consensus target is $128.77. The last trade for Monday was reported at $123.79 a share.
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FibroGen Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which also lowered the price target to $45. The consensus target is much higher at $62.33. The stock closed Monday at $50.53, but shares were down a stunning 24% in premarket trading after the company posted very disappointing results.
Golar LNG Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLNG) was resumed in coverage at Citigroup with a $13 price target. The consensus target is up at $18.81. The stock closed Monday at $11.60, up almost 3% on the day.
Inseego Corp. (NASDAQ: INSG) was downgraded at Stifel from Buy to Hold with a $12 price target. The consensus target is $14.45. The shares closed at $15.03 but were down a massive 15% in the premarket in the wake of lower than expected earnings results.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Daiwa Securities with an $86 price target. The consensus target for the investment giant is $83.80. The last trade for Monday came in at $79.16, after a 3% gain for the day.
Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm asks whether the restaurant recovery already is priced into the stocks. Shares last closed at $10.25 and have a consensus price target of just $11.40.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ; PLUG) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which raised the price target to $29. The much higher $64.03 consensus still tops Monday’s closing print of $52.46, even after a more than 8% for the day.
Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) was downgraded at BofA Securities from Buy to Neutral with a $125 price target. The posted consensus target is $88.38. The stock ended Monday’s trading at $86.79.
TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which raised the price target to $62. The consensus target is much lower at $35.06, The stock closed Monday at $49.35. The shares were up almost 6% in premarket trading
Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, which lowered the price target to $18. The consensus target is $20.73, and Monday’s last trade came in at $14.72.
Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NYSE: ZM) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler. The firm also raised the price target to $541. The consensus target is a much lower $466.10. The stock was last seen at $409.66 on Monday. The shares were up almost 8% in the premarket following stellar earnings.
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Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apache, CME, Cree, On Semiconductor, Pioneer Natural Resources, Plug Power, Sony and Wayfair. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Groupon, Sunrun, Twitter and more.
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