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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Facebook, Harley-Davidson, JetBlue, Lowe's, Occidental, Overstock.com, Snap, Southwest Air and More
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The futures were modestly higher on Wednesday as investors and Wall Street start to look at results from the big money center banks and brokerage firms today and tomorrow. This is the unofficial start to first-quarter earnings, which will explode in volume next week. Despite some disappointing news on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday, the S&P 500 pushed to another all-time high and the Nasdaq posted big gains as well, while the Dow Jones industrials closed down.
Top strategists across Wall Street continue to point to the broad reopening of the economy, the tailwind from the stimulus package and the continued Federal Reserve pledges to keep interest rates contained as reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets. It also should be noted that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.
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, April 14, 2021.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating, added the search giant to the firm’s Best Ideas List and has a $2,953 price target. The consensus price target is $2,354.49, and the stock closed trading Tuesday at $2254.43.
Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD): Cantor Fitzgerald raised the stock from Neutral to Overweight with a $17 price target. The posted consensus target is $18.14. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $9.31 a share.
Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO): Oppenheimer raised it from Perform to Outperform with a $59 price target. The consensus target is $57, and the shares closed Tuesday at $47.37.
24/7 Wall St.Cousins Property Inc. (NYSE: CUZ): Baird hiked its rating from Neutral to Outperform with a $42 price target. The consensus target is $40, and the last trade Tuesday came in at $35.31.
Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is just $50.63. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $47.00.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): Wedbush downgraded the social media giant to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the price target to $340. The consensus target is $338.38, and Tuesday’s closing share price was $309.76.
Galapago N.V. (NYSE: GLPG): Barclays raised the rating to Overweight from Equal Weight. The shares have traded in a wide range of $74.51 to $233.14 over the past 52 weeks, and the consensus price objective is $93.90. The final Tuesday trade came in at $78.30 a share.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): BofA Securities started the venerable motorcycle company with a Buy rating and a $55 price target. The consensus target is down at $39.56, and the last trade for Tuesday came in at $41.00.
JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): JPMorgan not only upgraded it to Overweight from Underweight but also lifted the price target to $25. The consensus target is $20.86, and Tuesday’s final trade came in at $20.77.
24/7 Wall St.JFrog Ltd. (NASDAQ: FROG): Summit Insights raised it from Sell to Hold with a $50 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $75.75, and the stock closed at $52.01 on Tuesday.
Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE: LAC): Zacks named this resources company as the Bull of the Day. The firm said that 2021 is the year of the EV and this company is already seeing huge demand for its product. Shares closed most recently at $14.25 and they have traded as high as $28.75 in the past year.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Atlantic Equities raised the retail home improvement giant from Neutral to Overweight with a $240 price target. That compares with the lower $198.21 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing trade of $199.72.
Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMP): Wolfe Research raised the shares from Underperform to Peer Perform with a $45 price target. The consensus target is up at $48.80, and the last trade for Tuesday was recorded at $44.75.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY): MKM Partners upgraded the energy giant to Buy from Neutral with a $32 price target. The consensus target is $29, and Tuesday’s closing print was $24.29.
Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK): Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $95 price target. The consensus target is higher at $107.40, and Tuesday’s last trade hit the tape at $77.75, which up almost 8% for the day.
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR): Goldman Sachs downgraded Petrobras from Buy to Neutral with a $10.30 price target. The consensus target is $11.70, and the stock closed Tuesday at $8.27.
PLBY Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PLBY): Zacks named the new Playboy as the Bear of the Day stock, saying that sometimes lower estimates aren’t what they seem to be. Shares last closed at $38.11, but the consensus price target is $30.00.
SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Underperform from Neutral and lowered the price target to $70. The consensus target is $72.94, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $71.36.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): Wedbush upgraded the popular social media stock to Outperform from Neutral and lifted the price target to $75. That consensus target is $74.71. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $62.44.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): JPMorgan upgraded the low-cost leading airline to Neutral from Underweight and raised the price target to $66. The consensus target is in line at $66.41, and the shares closed most recently at $63.23 apiece.
Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE): JPMorgan raised the shares to Overweight from Underweight and increased the price target to $54. The consensus target for the budget carrier is much lower at $36.60, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday at $37.04, up almost 3% on the day.
While oil stocks have rallied off the dreadful lows of last year, heading into the strongest seasonal time for the sector, and taking advantage of recent selling, may set up energy investors for some solid summer gains.
Check out the top billion-dollar holdings at ARK Invest. And note that short interest on electric vehicle stocks is surging, including on industry leader Tesla.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Beyond Meat, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cloudflare, FedEx, JetBlue Airways, Nvidia, PepsiCo, Square and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Deere and more.
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