The futures were mixed on Friday. The Nasdaq almost was pushed back into correction territory Thursday, before all the indexes rallied into the close and ended higher. With the ongoing selling from the massive $61 billion dollar pension rebalance for the quarter and month end, it appears that every time indexes have rallied this week many of those stock bids were hit and hit hard.

Top strategists on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading by the WallStreetBets crowd, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that make no money as examples. Many of the Reddit stocks were the ones that were worked over this week.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength, while repositioning portfolios for the start of the second quarter and 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 Friday, March 26, 2021.

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $70.55 to $147.67 and have a consensus price objective of $124.71. Thursday’s last trade was reported at $137.08, which was up over 4% for the day.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, which also raised the price target on the cigarette giant to $58 from $40. The consensus price target is $49.67. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $50.19.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which lowered the target price on the cable network to $52. The consensus target is in line at $51.99, and the stock closed Thursday trading at $60.87.

American Tower Inc. (NYSE: AMT) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $275 price target at Keybanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is $271.90, and the shares closed Thursday at $227.22.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was started at Wells Fargo with an Overweight rating and a $64 price target. The consensus target for the car parts giant is just $49.29, and the last trade Thursday came in at $43.70.

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO) was raised from Market Perform to Market Outperform with a $45 price target at JMP Securities. The consensus target is $34.61, and Thursday’s closing price was $32.50 a share.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $193 price target at Keybanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is $175.26, and the shares ended Thursday’s trading session at $167.49.

Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo, which lowered the price target on the cable network to $59 from $65. That compares with the much lower $47 consensus target and Thursday’s $57.75 close, which was down almost 7% on the day.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which recommended not betting against continued growth in 2021 for this online marketplace. Shares most recently closed at $196.20 and have a consensus price target of $230.69.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was started with a Buy rating at Vertical Research with a $340 price target. The consensus for the delivery giant is set at $329.16 and the shares were last seen Thursday at $274.18.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) was raised at Raymond James from Outperform to Strong Buy with a $112 price target. The slightly higher consensus target is $115.14, and Thursday’s closing trade of $85.74 came after a gain of almost 9% for the day.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with a Buy rating and an $85 price target at Vertical Research. The consensus target for the ride-sharing company is just $66.22. Thursday’s closing trade came in at $63.57, which was up over 4% for the day.

MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MTSI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, which raised the price target to $62 from $52. The consensus target across is $69.33. The stock retreated over 3% on Thursday to close at $53.91 a share.

Main Street Capital Corp. (NYSE: MAIN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, which has a $41 price target. The consensus price objective is $35.67, and the last trade for Thursday came in at $38.72.

Momo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOMO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which also raised the price target to $19.30 from $16.10. The consensus target is $19.80, and the shares ended Thursday’s trading at $13.95.
NextDecade Corp. (NASDAQ: NEXT) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $2 price target. The consensus target is $3.09, and the stock closed Thursday at $1.95, after retreating almost 8% on the day. Shares rallied over 26% in the premarket.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was raised from Neutral to Outperform with a $150 price target at Baird. The consensus target for the apparel and shoe behemoth is up at $165.15. The last trade for Thursday hit the tape at $128.64, down almost 4% on the day.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) was started with a Buy rating and a $24 price target at Vertical Research. The consensus target for the electric vehicle company is $27.00, and the shares ended Thursday at $14.20.

Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Ascendiant Capital Markets, which has a $20 price target. The consensus target is $17.75, and the stock closed Thursday at $15.68.

Viewray Inc. (NASDAQ: VRAY) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $7 price target at BTIG Research. The consensus target is $5.88, and the stock closed Thursday at $4.33.

WW International Inc. (NYSE: WW) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the continuing COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe are still creating headwinds. Shares last closed at $31.48 and have a consensus price target of $32.68.

With the stock market very overbought and interest rates still very close to generational lows, top-quality dividend stocks may be the way to go for the rest of 2021. See the five that could offer double-digit total return potential.

Note that short sellers have been bolstering their stakes in Apple, Amazon and Tesla. And one analyst sees a weakening in the media and entertainment industry and downgraded stocks.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AllianceBernstein, AMD, Cisco, eHealth, iHeart Media, Intel, Playtika, ViacomCBS and Williams-Sonoma. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Netflix, Rite Aid, Vail, Walgreens and more.

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