Friday’s futures inched higher after a fairly positive showing on Thursday. For most of the week, the major averages had traded sideways, but there could be a strong finish to the week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released CPI data that rose by 5.0%, or the most since the financial crisis in 2008. While U.S. stocks did not necessarily react to this, the inflation outlook is a concern for many investors going forward.

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 Friday, June 11, 2021.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Bernstein upgraded the stock to an Outperform rating from Market Perform and has a $500 price target. The stock last closed around $415, in a 52-week range of $223.25 to $468.55. The consensus price target is $376.43.

Cboe Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE): Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Underweight rating and a $104 price target. Shares closed Thursday near $113, in a 52-week range of $77.63 to $116.39. The consensus price target is $111.15.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME): Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $228 price target. The consensus price target is $212.24, and the stock closed at around $213. The 52-week range is $146.89 to $221.82.

Coursera Inc. (NYSE: COUR): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $50 price target. The stock closed Thursday near $44 and has a 52-week range of $32.59 to $62.53.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $280 price target. The stock closed at $243.08, in a 52-week range of $146.28 to $290.23. Analysts have a consensus price target of $270.83 for the stock.

Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Outperform rating, and the firm raised the price target to $35 from $28. The stock was last seen trading near $30, with a consensus analyst target of $31.67. The 52-week trading range is $17.66 to $29.86.

Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with a $50 price target. The stock recently closed at $54 a share, within a 52-week range of $39.47 to $136.50. The consensus price target is $56.60.

Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: NTLA): H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage with a $111 price target. The stock closed near $83, in a 52-week range of $16.54 to $92.00. The consensus price target is $86.00.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP): Argus upgraded it to Buy from Hold and has a $75 price target. The stock was last seen around $63, in a 52-week range of $32.59 to $65.27. The consensus price target is $64.86.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI): Morgan Stanley downgraded it from Overweight to an Equal Weight rating with a $126 price target. The consensus price target is $125.62. The stock has a 52-week range of $57.40 to $140.17 and recently closed near $132 a share.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst said that data center and artificial intelligence growth continues its path to overtake gaming and analysts are raising price targets. The stock most recently closed at $697.00 and has a consensus price target of $716.65.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING): Needham started coverage with a Hold rating. The stock recently closed near $25, in a 52-week range of $19.97 to $37.80. Analysts have a consensus price target of $31.88.

Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ: QDEL): Zacks selected this health care products maker as its Bear of the Day, pointing out that estimates were slashed another 30% since the first-quarter report, driving year-over-year projections negative into 2022. The shares last closed at $115.68, and its consensus price target is $170.50.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Susquehanna upgraded the shares to Neutral from Negative. The consensus price target is $89.35, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $43.53 to $106.22. It recently closed near $97 per share.

Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG): Wells Fargo raised its Underweight rating to Equal Weight, and the firm lifted the price target to $70 from $57. Shares last closed below $70, in a 52-week range of $9.71 to $74.80. The consensus price target is $66.20.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY): The CIBC downgrade to Neutral from Sector Outperform came with a $25 price target. The stock closed near $20, in a 52-week range of $4.41 to $67.00. The consensus price target is $18.98.

Investors can almost count on the taper tantrum selling when the Federal Reserve begins to slow the quantitative easing this year. Five top Dow Jones industrials will be good stocks to be in when it does, as they are all in sectors that look to benefit from the continued reopening of the economy.

With travel on the rise as the economy reopens, is now the time to buy the top airline stocks? Also, check out why Warren Buffett has invested in a Brazilian bank and how cryptocurrency could be regulated soon.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alaska Airlines, Clover Health Investment, CME, Dillard’s, Discovery, Fastly, Marathon Oil, ServiceNow and UPS. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on American Airlines, Biogen, Dow and more.

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