The futures traded lower across the board on Monday, as we start the final trading week for the first quarter. All the major indexes, along with the Russell 2000, closed higher Friday after some serious selling last week got the momentum crowd looking for bargains. This week could see more volatility as the pension rebalancing trade, which calls for $61 billion of stocks to be sold by month and quarter end, is still in play.
Top strategists on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading by the WallStreetBets and Robinhood 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 last 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 29, 2021.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD | APD Price Prediction) was resumed in coverage at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating and a $302 price target. The consensus target for is in line at $302.64. The stock closed Friday at $287.22, after rising almost 4% on the day.
Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $30 price target. The posted consensus target is much higher at $45.75. The stock closed Friday at $28.46 a share.
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Ares Management Corp. (NASDAQ: ARES) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets, which also lowered the price target to $59. The consensus target is $57.90. The shares were last seen on Friday at $53.90.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was raised to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital. The shares have traded in a wide 52-week range of $90.94 to $354.82 and have a $348.85 consensus price target. Friday’s closing trade came in at $208.61.
Carrier Global Inc. (NYSE: CARR) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which raise the price target to $53. The consensus target is just $44.14. The shares were last seen at $41.09 on Friday.
Cowen Inc. (NASDAQ: COWN) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $43 price target at Compass Point. The consensus target is $49, and Friday’s close was at $34.34 a share.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL) was started with a Buy rating and a $195 price target at Deutsche Bank. The consensus target for the restaurant chain is $162.71, and the stock ended Friday trading at $172.03.
Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities. The European banking giant’s shares have traded in a 52-week range of $7.33 to $14.95 and have a $15.08 consensus target.
Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE: RE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which raised the price target to $305. That compares with a consensus target of $278.33 and Friday’s closing trade of $250.15.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank, which also raised the price target on the social media colossus to $385 from $355. The consensus target is $338.05, and the shares were last seen at $283.02 on Friday.
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Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, which raised the price target on the mutual fund giant to $36. The consensus target is a much lower $25.62, and the stock closed trading Friday at $29.40.
Harmony Biosciences Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HRMY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $43 from $41. The consensus target is up at $51.33, and the stock was last seen Friday trading at $27.56, after retreating over 7% for the day.
Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE: JCI) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which raised the price target to $73. The consensus target is $59.47, and Friday’s final trade hit the tape at $59.99.
Otis Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: OTIS) was raised from Reduce to Hold with a $65 price target at HSBC Securities. The consensus target is up at $73, and the stock closed on Friday at $69.04.
Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $29. The consensus target is $25.30, and the last trade for Friday was recorded at $24.25.
PTC Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) was raised from Underperform to Sector Perform with a $47 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is higher at $61.30, and the shares ended trading on Friday at $49.21.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist Securities, and the firm raised the price target on the social media giant to $74 from $64. The consensus target is $69.40 and Friday’s closing price was $61.26 a share.
ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC) was raised from Sell to Hold with a $48 price target at Loop Capital, and BMO Capital Markets upgraded it from Underperform to Market Perform with a $70 price target. Those compare with the $56.54 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $48.23 per share.
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The massive potential for the total addressable market for online sports betting is more than enough reason for investors with a solid risk appetite to add the stocks to portfolios. Plus, they are offering the best entry points since late last year.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, AMC Networks, Crown Castle, Etsy, FedEx, Lyft, Nike, Nikola and WW. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on CSX, Guess, Snowflake, Zoom Video and more.
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