The futures were mixed on Wednesday. The final trading day of the first quarter could bring some added volatility. Despite many of the momentum names trading higher on Tuesday, all three of the major indexes closed in the red. The only winners were the Russell 2000 and the Transportation index, which hit yet another all-time high. As we have mentioned recently, that is a very positive sign for the economy for the second quarter and beyond.

While 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, some say that volume is starting to wane. However, additional huge hedge fund leverage similar to Archegos Capital, (which blew up late last week) and initial public offerings that don’t make money continue to show elevated risk tolerance.

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 Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which raised the price target on the technology giant to $142 from $115. The Wall Street consensus target is up at $152.01, and Tuesday’s close was at $119.90.

Allied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was started with an Outperform rating and a $160 price target at Bernstein. The consensus target for the semiconductor capital equipment leader is $135.66. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $126.76 a share.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) was started with a Sector Perform rating and a $193 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is $135.66, and the stock ended Tuesday’s session at $126.76.

Blueprint Medicines Corp. (NASDAQ: BPMC) was started at Credit Suisse with a Neutral rating and a $100 price target. The consensus target is up at $117.67, and the shares were last seen on Tuesday at $93.27 a share.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. The European oil major has traded in a 52-week range of $14.74 to $28.57 and has a consensus target of $29.32. The stock closed on Tuesday at $24.88.

Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NYSE: BHF) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup, which raised the price target to $46 from $35. The consensus target is $42.40, and the last trade to hit the tape Tuesday was reported at $44.04, which was up almost 3% on the day.

Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL) was started with a Hold rating and a $65 price target at Loop Capital. The $69.56 consensus target compares with Tuesday’s $59.40 close after almost a 5% pullback on the day.

Carrier Global Corp. (NASDAQ: CARR) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $51 from $43. The consensus target is $45.14 and Tuesday’s closing share price was $42.36.

Chimerix Inc. (NASDAQ: CMRX) was started with an Outperform rating and a $21 target at Wedbush. The consensus target is $13.33, and the stock closed Tuesday at $8.59

Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPM) was started at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating and a $13 price target. The consensus target is $19.63, and the stock was last seen Tuesday at $8.17, up almost 10%.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) was started with an Outperform rating and a $303 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target for the real estate giant is lower at $279.42, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday at $278.12.

FibroGen Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN) was raised at BofA Securities from Neutral to Buy with a $47 price target. The posted consensus target is $55. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $31.11.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, which raised the price target on the venerable motorcycle company to $45 from $38. The consensus target is $37.38, and the stock ended Tuesday trading at $37.53, which was up almost 3% for the day.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho, which raised the price target on the oil giant to $94 from $76. The consensus target is just $76. The stock closed at $71.04 on Tuesday.

IDEX Corp. (NYSE: IEC) was started at Morgan Stanley with an Overweight rating and a $230 price target. The consensus target is $211.75, and Tuesday’s last trade was at $210.46.
Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $445 price target at Canaccord Genuity. The consensus price objective is $413.07, and Tuesday’s last trade came in at $368.96, after tumbling almost 7% on the day.

Invitation Homes Inc. (NASDAQ: INVH) was started with an Outperform rating and a $35 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is $34.63, and the shares ended trading on Tuesday at $32.25.

Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE: JCI) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, which lowered the price target on the industrial leader to $66 from $70. That compares with the $60.87 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $60.73.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this homebuilder has seen a boom thanks to a big shift in the real estate market and has also seen margins move higher. Shares most recently closed at $101.78 and have a consensus price target of $106.00.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the valuation for this stock is higher than a doorbell on the 99th floor. Shares last closed at $286.75 and have traded as high as $449.00 in the past year.

The FANG stocks are among the top BofA Securities growth stock picks. With the market very pricey and perhaps vulnerable to tail risks, these stocks are very likely one of the best places for long-term aggressive growth investors to be now.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, American Airlines, Domino’s Pizza, DXC Technology, RH, Toyota, ViacomCBS and Yelp. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Expedia, FuelCell, Plug Power, Roku and more.

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