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Thursday's Top Analysts Upgrades and Downgrades: Alaska Air, Clover Health, CME, Fastly, Marathon Oil, ServiceNow, UPS and More
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The futures traded mixed Thursday morning after the major indexes all closed lower on Wednesday. The highly anticipated May Consumer Price Index reading came in somewhat hotter than expected. In addition, investors have watched as the bipartisan infrastructure stimulus talks fall apart. While the Democrats are expected to go the budget reconciliation route alone now, a bipartisan group of Senators is expected to unveil their own package by the end of the week.
Despite the resurfacing concerns across Wall Street for tapering of the quantitative easing program and a clear building of inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. 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, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the coming 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, June 10, 2021.
Alaska Airlines Inc. (NYSE: ALK): MKM Partners started the carrier with a Buy rating and an $81 price target. The consensus target is $82. The stock closed Wednesday at $65.62.
Anthem Inc. (NASDAQ: ANTM): RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform and has a $399 price target. The posted consensus target is up at $424.09. The final trade for Wednesday came in at $385.96.
Axsome Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AXSM): Berenberg initiated coverage of the shares with a Buy rating and a $112 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $142, and the shares closed Wednesday at $63.50.
Clover Health Investments Corp. (NASDAQ: CLOV): BofA Securities downgraded this newest meme stock from Neutral to Underperform with a $10 price target. The $9.67 consensus target is also lower than Wednesday’s close of $16.92, even after a stunning 23% drop on Thursday.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME): Atlantic Equities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and has a $235 price target. The consensus price objective is $212.24, and the stock ended trading on Wednesday at $215.51.
Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock from Sector Perform to Outperform and also raised the target price to $21. The consensus target is just $11.10. The shares were closed Wednesday at $15.32. They were up almost 5% in premarket trading.
Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): Though RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform, the firm also raised the target price to $40. The consensus target is $33, and the stock was closed on Wednesday at $35.46. As it is trading right at the 52-week high after a strong run, this looks like a valuation call.
Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS): Zacks named this retailer its Bull of the Day. The analyst pointed out that one blockbuster earnings report sent this stock is skyrocketing. The stock most recently closed at $179.49 but has a consensus price target of just $92.25.
Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock, saying that after a huge run following hedge fund interest, the shares have come back to earth. The stock last closed at $30.56, and its consensus price target is $43.26.
24/7 Wall St.Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DNB): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform and has a $26 price target. The consensus price objective is $29.08, and the stock closed at $20.85 on Wednesday.
Fastly Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLY): Oppenheimer downgraded the shares to Perform from Outperform. The stock has traded in a wide 52-week range of $39.47 to $136.50 and has a $57.33 consensus target price. The final Wednesday trade was reported at $54.69.
F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV): Credit Suisse upgraded the shares to Outperform from Neutral and also raised the price target to $235. The lower $217.50 consensus is closer to Wednesday’s $187.74 final print.
FTC Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FTCI): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $15 price target. No consensus price objective was available, and the stock closed Wednesday at $10.81.
Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO): RBC Capital Markets upgraded shares of the energy giant to Outperform from Sector Perform. The firm also raised the target price to $18. The consensus target is lower at $14.17, and the last trade for Wednesday came in at $13.36.
Matador Resources Co. (NYSE: MTDR): The MKM Partners downgrade to Neutral from Buy comes with a $33 price target. The consensus target is $34. The shares closed at $33.47 on Wednesday.
Pennant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and has a $50 price target. The consensus price target is $48.00. The final trade Wednesday came in at $36.17, which was up over 4% for the day.
PubMatic Inc. (NASDAQ: PUBM): Evercore ISI raised the stock to Outperform from In Line, and the analysts set a $40 price target for the digital advertising company. The consensus target is higher at $48.86. The stock closed Wednesday at $32.13, up almost 6% on the day.
Shift Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SFT): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $15 price target. The consensus target is $12.57, and the shares closed on Wednesday at $8.42 per share.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Conviction Buy from Buy and has a massive $695 price target. The $606.66 consensus target is also well above Wednesday’s final print of $464.71.
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS): JPMorgan upgraded the delivery giant to Overweight from Neutral and has a $243 price target. The consensus price objective is just $217.13. The stock closed Wednesday at $201.06, after retreating almost 5% on the day.
Three outstanding stocks have joined the Jefferies Franchise Picks in a sizable portfolio change, as the analysts see a profound shift as the pandemic continues to abate and the reopening prospects remain positive.
Also, check out Warren Buffett’s favorite stocks and see why he has invested in a Brazilian bank.
Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Abercrombie & Fitch, Coinbase, Colgate-Palmolive, Fisker, Fox, Goldman Sachs, Urban Outfitters and Wendy’s. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Lordstown, Morgan Stanley, ResMed and more.
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