The futures traded down on Thursday, following another wild session of selling Wednesday that felt like the continuation of the pullback that started Tuesday afternoon. Once again, the biggest narrative seems to be the increasing fear of rising inflation and rising interest rates as government bonds were sold off across the curve. Another big drag on risk sentiment appears to be the massive sell-off in Bitcoin, which at one point had dropped almost 50% from highs posted just 10 days ago before rebounding some.
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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, May 20, 2021.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD | AMD Price Prediction): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage on the semiconductor leader with a Sector Perform rating. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $48.42 to $99.23 and has a consensus price target of $104.30. The final trade for Wednesday came in at $76.23, which was up almost 3% for the day.
AmBev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV): Itau BBA downgraded the stock to Market Perform and has a $3.60 price target. The consensus target is $3.36, and the shares closed Wednesday at $3.35.
American Campus Communities Inc. (NYSE: ACC): JPMorgan raised its Underweight rating to Neutral and has a $46 price target. The posted consensus target is $48.43, and Wednesday’s last trade came in at $45.94 a share.
Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI): Bernstein upgraded the chip giant to Outperform from Market Perform and raised the price target to $185. The consensus target is $182.63, and the shares ended trading on Wednesday at $153.12, up almost 5% on the day.
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Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT): JPMorgan downgraded the real estate giant to Neutral from Overweight with a $125 price target. The consensus is set at $124.65 and the stock closed Wednesday at $121.78. Trading just below the 52-week high after a solid run this may be a valuation call.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): UBS raised the popular restaurant chain’s stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $1,700. The higher consensus target is $1,721.19, and Wednesday’s closing price was $1,307.19 a share.
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Wedbush started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $275 price target. That compares with a much higher $418.62 consensus target. The last trade for the battered stock on Wednesday came in at $224.80, after pulling back almost 6% for the day. Shares were up over 2% in premarket trading.
Columbia Sportswear Co. (NASDAQ: COLM): Zacks named this as the Bull of the Day. The firm said that the turnaround now appears underway after a strong first quarter that had analysts racing to raise their earnings guidance. Shares most recently closed at $103.09 and have a consensus price target of $121.92.
Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE: LPG): Evercore ISI downgraded it to In Line from Outperform and has a $15 price target. The consensus target is $16.90, and the shares closed on Wednesday at $14.72.
Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT): JPMorgan’s upgraded to Neutral from Underweight included a price target hike to $115. The consensus price objective is $110.64, and the stock was last seen on Wednesday at $112.24.
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Holly Frontier Inc. (NYSE: HFC): Goldman Sachs downgraded the company to Sell from Neutral and lowered the price target to $34. The consensus target is $40, and the stock closed Wednesday at $34.63.
Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR): Deutsche Bank raised the industrial leader to Buy from Hold and also lifted the price target to $54. The consensus target is $55.54, and the stock closed Wednesday at $47.74.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Keybanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating, but the firm lowered the price target on the venerable silicon valley chip pioneer to $70. The consensus target is $65.62, and the stock was last seen on Wednesday at $55.36.
Regency Centers Corp. (NYSE: REG): JPMorgan gave the shares a rare double upgrade to Overweight from Underweight, and the firm has a $67 price target. The consensus price objective is $62.68, near the $62.79 a share at which the stock ended trading on Wednesday.
Shoals Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Though Goldman Sachs raised the stock to Buy from Neutral, it also lowered the price target to $33. The consensus target is up at $40.20, and the shares ended trading Wednesday at $21.50. However, the stock was up almost 5% in premarket action.
SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): Goldman Sachs raised its Neutral rating to Buy but lowered the price target to $290. That compares with the consensus target across Wall Street of $292.12 and Wednesday’s closing print of $233.49, which was up over 5% on the day.
Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP): Zacks named this the Bear of the Day stock, saying that earnings revisions have trended in the wrong direction since its first-quarter financial release. Meanwhile, its stock price has failed to regain momentum. Shares last closed at $180.13, but the consensus price target is still up at $325.75.
Tronox Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: TROX): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $28 price target. That compares to the consensus target of $25.83 and Wednesday’s closing print of $22.42 a share.
ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC): BofA Securities raised the entertainment and programming giant to Buy from Neutral and has set a $53 price target. The posted consensus target is $49.85. The stock was last seen trading at $39.69 on Wednesday.
Youdao Inc. (NYSE: DAO): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and also increased the price target to $30. The consensus target is $38.87, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $22.40.
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One top analyst has lowered price targets on some of the top software stocks. Yet, the firm has four that are still the place to be, given their strong fundamentals and how well they held up into recent selling.
Also, see why one top analyst has moved to the sidelines on Wells Fargo, and check out which analyst is showing the love for retails stocks.
Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ferrari, Ford, Netflix, Nordstrom, Salesforce.com, Sally Beauty, UBS, Walmart and Wells Fargo. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AutoZone, CVS, Home Depot, Macy’s and more.
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