The futures were mixed on Thursday after a dreadful day for investors on Wednesday, when all of the major indexes and the transportation index closed lower, with the Nasdaq taking the worst beating, down 2.67% on the day. The market was hammered after the Consumer Price Index reading showed that consumer prices jumped again in April and drove the rate of inflation to the highest level in nearly 13 years. With most first-quarter earnings reports released, investors are starting to factor in rising prices amid a continued tailwind for the market from low, but slowly rising interest rates.

Despite the concerns across Wall Street for tapering of the quantitative easing program and clear building inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained, which could be one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. 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, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the balance 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, May 13, 2021.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Underperform and also raised the price target to $168. The consensus target is lower at $159.57. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $154.60.

Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Credit Suisse raised the shares to Outperform from Neutral and has a $31 price target. The consensus target for the solar equipment stock is $33.70. Shares tumbled an incredible 46% on Wednesday after the company posted solid results but halted further guidance due to massive increases in cost.

Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRA): JPMorgan upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price target to $29. The consensus target is higher at $35.29, and the stock closed trading on Wednesday at $13.83. Shares were up almost 6% in Thursday’s premarket action.

Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH): Though UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it also raised the price target to $66. That compares with a consensus price objective of $62.01 and Wednesday’s close at $60.48.

Baker Hughes Co. (NYSE: BKR): Goldman Sachs started coverage of the oilfield services leader with a Buy rating and a $29 price target. The consensus price objective is $27.50 and the Wednesday close was at $23.97 a share.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BJ): JPMorgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight and also hiked the price target on the retailing giant to $51. The consensus target is $50.44. The stock was last seen Wednesday at $43.49, down almost 7% on the day.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Wells Fargo started the aerospace and defense giant with an Equal Weight rating and a $244 price target. The consensus is up at $258.50. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $220.78.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (NYSE: BAH): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $96 price target. The consensus target is $92.09, and the shares closed Wednesday at $80.69.

CACI International Inc. (NYSE: CACI): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating with a $311 price target. The posted consensus target is lower at $298.50, and the stock ended trading on Wednesday at $253.99.

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT): Stifel upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $14.50. The consensus target is posted at $15.30, and the last trade for Wednesday came in at $12.09.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO): MKM Partners started coverage of the legacy technology giant with a Buy rating and has a $61 price target. The consensus target is lower at $54.50. The shares closed Wednesday at $51.60.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Compass Point started the cryptocurrency trading platform with a Neutral rating and a $325 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $439.27. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $283.61.

Coupang Inc. (NASDAQ: CPNG): While Deutsche Bank raised its Hold rating to Buy, the firm also lowered the price target to $40. No consensus target was available as the stock had a recent initial public offering. The shares were last seen on Wednesday at $35.33.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the venerable equipment company to Market Perform from Outperform and has a $400 price target. The consensus price objective is $394.95, and the last trade for Wednesday came in at $373.63.

Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NYSE: ETRN): Wells Fargo downgraded it to Underweight from Equal Weight and has a $9 price target. The consensus target is $9.73, and the shares ended trading at $8.04 on Wednesday.
First Hawaiian Inc. (NYSE: FHB): UBS upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell and also raised the target price to $28. The consensus price objective is $27.64, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $27.01.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD): Wells Fargo started the defense giant with an Overweight rating and a $216 price target. The consensus target is just $193.65, and the shares ended trading on Wednesday at $186.88.

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE: EAF): The BMO Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform included a target price hike to $16. The consensus target is $13.20, and the stock closed trading on Wednesday at $12.63.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL): Goldman Sachs started the oilfield services leader with a Buy rating and a $25 price target. The consensus price objective is $22.84 and the stock closed Wednesday at $22.63.

HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $215 price target. The consensus target is $222.17, and the shares were last seen Wednesday at $204.11.

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN): The Wolfe Research upgrade to Peer Perform from Underperform comes with a $10 price target. The consensus target is $10.58, and the shares ended Wednesday at $8.42, down almost 4% on the day.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT): Gordon Haskett downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has a $100 price target. The consensus target is up at $106.82, and the final trade for Wednesday was reported at $93.63.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst suggests that optical care needs are rising and reopening trends are spurring a big catch-up on exams. Shares closed most recently at $46.91 and have a consensus price target of $53.25.

For investors looking to book profits and move to areas that can fight through the inflation backdrop, some more conservative BofA Securities stock picks pay very large and dependable distributions and dividends.

Are analysts being too harsh on Array Technologies? Which one thinks the rally at Dollar General is over?

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included DraftKings, Dollar General, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Novavax, Rackspace, Unity Software and Weyerhaeuser. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Amazon, Caterpillar, Disney, Electronic Arts, Target and more.

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