The futures traded lower for the third straight day on Wednesday, and despite an onslaught of positive earnings results and some excellent forward guidance so far, some external pressures are affecting an already very overbought market. A spike in the number of COVID-19 cases hit the travel industry this week. And while concerns over an outbreak of national protest after the George Floyd ruling had many investors on edge, at least for the time being things are calm after the verdicts.
Despite the near-term concerns, 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. Also note 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, and we may be seeing the beginning, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for 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 Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
Archer Daniels Midland Inc. (NYSE: ADM | ADM Price Prediction): BofA Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $68 price target. The consensus price target is $59.18, and the stock closed Tuesday at $58.71.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): BofA Securities downgraded it from Neutral to Underperform with a $1,390 price target. The consensus target for the auto parts retailing giant is much higher at $1,486.06, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $1514.11.
Bally’s Corp. (NYSE: BALY): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $66 price target. That compares with a much higher consensus target of $82 and Tuesday’s final trade of $54.98 a share.
Bonanza Creek Energy (NYSE: BCEI): Truist Securities raised its Hold rating to Buy and lifted the price target to $40 from $30. The consensus target is $43.57, and the last Tuesday trade was reported at $29.94, which was down over 7% on the day.
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Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS): Jefferies upgraded it to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $180 from $150. The consensus target is $156.54, and the final trade for Tuesday was reported at $138.12.
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Rosenblatt started coverage with a Buy rating and a $450 price target. The consensus target is up at $513.33. The shares were last seen at $320.82 on Tuesday.
Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA): Deutsche Bank upgraded it from Hold to Buy with a $95 price target. The consensus price objective is $86.28, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $75.96.
CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP): Jefferies raised its Hold rating to Buy and has a $172 price target. The consensus target is $158.29, and Tuesday’s final trade was at $121.67.
CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the railroad giant to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm also raised the price target to $110 from $95. The consensus target is $103.30, and the shares ended trading on Tuesday at $98.45.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Even though UBS downgraded the mining giant to Neutral from Buy, it raised the price target to $36 from $30. The consensus target is $38.51, and Tuesday’s last trade came in at $35.88, which was down almost 4% for the day.
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Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): Baird raised its Neutral rating to Outperform, and the price target rose from $850 to $950. Oppenheimer upgraded the robotic surgery system leader to Perform from Underperform as well. The posted consensus price target is $787.88, and the shares closed trading on Tuesday at $811.11.
Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI): This was named the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which pointed out that this storied retail brand just crushed first-quarter earnings estimates and boosted its dividend. Shares closed most recently at $28.91 and have a consensus price target of $30.25.
MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET): UBS started coverage with a Buy rating and a $72 price target. The consensus target for the insurance leader is $66.18. Shares closed Tuesday’s trading at $61.16.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Berenberg upgraded the financial powerhouse to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $91 from $67. The consensus target is $90.66, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $77.29.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): The Stifel Hold rating was raised to Buy, and the firm has a $560 price target for the entertainment streaming giant. Pivotal Research lowered its price target on the shares to $720 from $750 but maintained a Buy rating, as first-quarter results came in shy of previous guidance. The posted consensus target is $622.74. The stock closed at $549.57 on Tuesday.
Oracle Inc. (NYSE: ORCL): DZ Bank downgraded the technology leader from Buy to Hold with an $80 price target. That compares with the $71.24 consensus target. Tuesday’s closing print of $79.24 is right below the 52-week high, after a big run, so this looks like a valuation call.
OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OGI): This was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm suggests that this cannabis stock is still being weighed down by the coronavirus pandemic. Shares last closed at $2.34 and have no consensus price target.
Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: PNFP): Wells Fargo raised it to Overweight from Equal Weight and has a $105 price target. The $91.67 consensus target compares with Tuesday’s $84.80 close, which was down almost 8% for the day.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG): Citigroup lowered the price target on the consumer staples conglomerate to $150 from $165, along with a downgrade to Neutral from Buy. The consensus target is $149.84, and the final Tuesday trade hit the tape at $137.75.
Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT): BofA Securities downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and lowered the price target to $24 from $27. The consensus target for the mortgage lending giant is $25.08, and the final print for Tuesday came in at $21.67.
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Some recent IPOs are down more than 50% from the highs printed not long after their debuts. Four of these companies offer stellar technologies and applications, and aggressive investors with a longer time frame could make some huge gains with a little patience.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Avis Budget, Bloom Energy, Cisco Systems, Enphase Energy, Fuel Cell Energy, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Plug Power, Sunrun, Twilio and Zoom Video Communications. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on CrowdStrike, Tesla, Uber and more.
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