The futures were mixed on Thursday after investors were focused Wednesday on the release of the Federal Reserve minutes from the March meeting, in which officials expressed patience in keeping the easy monetary policy in place, believing that it will be “some time” until its economic and price-stability goals are met. Top strategists across Wall Street continue to point to the broad reopening of the economy, the tailwind from the stimulus package and those continued Federal Reserve pledges to keep interest rates contained as reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets. It should also be noted that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

Some across Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and options trading by the WallStreetBets and Robinhood crowds, but some of that volume is starting to wane. Most investors now will be turning their attention to first-quarter earnings results, which start in earnest next 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 Thursday, April 8, 2021.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ; ADBE) was resumed in coverage at BofA Securities with a Buy rating and a $570 price target. The consensus target for the technology giant is $565.42, and the last trade for Wednesday came in at $493.41.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was raised to Outperform from Inline with a $105 price target at Imperial Capital. The consensus target is $107.50, and the stock closed Wednesday at $85.73.

Ameresco Inc. (NYSE: AMRC) was started with a Buy rating and a $58 price target at Stifel. The consensus target is $68.50, and the stock ended Wednesday at $47.15, which was down over 5% for the day.

BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. (NYSE: BSIG) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which raised the price target to $30. The consensus target is $22.83, and the stock closed Wednesday’s trading at $20.37.

CarGurus Inc. (NASDAQ: CARG) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform with a $34 price target at Raymond James. The consensus target is $34.72, and Wednesday’s close was at $24.18, after pulling back over 4% on the day. Shares rebounded in the premarket, up almost 4%.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was downgraded at Credit Suisse from Outperform to Neutral with a $207 price target. The consensus target is $219.47. The shares closed Wednesday at $210.90.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was resumed in coverage at BofA Securities with a $600 price target. The consensus price objective is $566.19, and the shares ended Wednesday at $485.

L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, where the analysts have a $208 price target for the aerospace and defense giant. The posted consensus target is $224.56, and Wednesday’s last trade came in at $208.65.

MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which also raised the price target to $105. The consensus target is lower at $91.71, and the stock closed Wednesday at $86.65, down almost 6% for the day. The shares bounced back over 3% in the premarket.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, though the firm raised the price target to $213. The consensus target is $206.08, and Wednesday’s closing share price was $212.14.

SeaSpine Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SPNE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which raised the price target to $24. The posted consensus target is $26.03. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $30.35.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) was downgraded at Wells Fargo from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $69 price target. The consensus target is $64.86, and the shares closed at $63.97 on Wednesday.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was resumed in coverage at BofA Securities with a Buy rating and a $180 price target. The higher consensus target for the big data giant is $193.62, and the most recent closing price was $138.79.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $71. The much lower consensus target is $53. Wednesday’s final print was $57.07 per share.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that after a tough 2020, this discount retailer likely will feel the impact of COVID-19 for a while longer. Shares last closed at $67.78 and have a consensus price target of $76.52.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was raised at JPMorgan from Neutral to Overweight with a $60 price target. The consensus price objective for the bank is $58.31, and the last Wednesday trade hit the tape at $56.81.

Viper Energy Partner (NASDAQ: VNOM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler, which raised the price target to $17. The consensus target is higher at $18.17, and Wednesday’s final trade was recorded at $14.64.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was resumed in coverage at BofA Securities with a Buy rating and a $175 price target. That compares with a $167.86 consensus target and Wednesday’s final trade of $153.57.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was started with a Sector Perform rating and a $140 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is $159.82, and the close on Wednesday was at $137.56 a share.

Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the RV giant increased market share during the pandemic, and it doesn’t see that changing any time soon. Shares most recently closed at $79.82 and have a consensus price target of $86.36.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley, which raised the price target on the exchange-traded fund provider to $6.75. The consensus target was last seen at $6.14, and the stock closed most recently at $6.61.

The five stocks that the top hedge funds are shorting the most are some of the top companies in their respective sectors and look like great ideas for aggressive growth traders, especially if they can deliver solid first-quarter results with positive guidance.

See which analyst has named Applied Materials a top pick and which one sees huge benefits for Tesla in the Biden infrastructure plan.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Alcoa, Anheuser Busch, Applied Materials, CyberArk, Fox, Merck, Paychex, ViacomCBS and Waste Management. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Abercrombie & Fitch, Pfizer, Teva Pharmaceutical and more.

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