Friday’s futures took a turn for the worse after the broad markets had a somewhat mixed performance on Thursday. There was a large push by the tech sector, putting the Nasdaq within striking distance of all-time highs. All the major banks, industrials and energy stocks took a hit on Thursday, largely due to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks. Although inflation seems to be looming, the Fed is focusing more on near-term unemployment and repairing supply chains as the United States reopens.

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 18, 2021.

Abiomed Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $360 price target. Shares closed Thursday near $313 apiece, in a 52-week range of $234.39 to 387.40. The consensus price target is $374.00.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK): Wolfe Research upgraded it to an Outperform rating from Peer Perform. The stock was last seen near $63, in a 52-week range of $33.00 to $74.25. The consensus price target is $82.00.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price target to $450 from $384. The stock closed near $383, in a 52-week range of $223.25 to $468.55. Analysts have a consensus price target of $405.41 for the stock.

Cardlytics Inc. (NASDAQ: CDLX): Needham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $135 price target. The consensus price target is $146.00, and the stock closed at around $111 per share. The 52-week trading range is $55.89 to $161.47.

Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ: CHDN): Macquarie started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $254 price target. The stock closed near $192, in a 52-week range of $121.56 to $258.32.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $111 price target. The shares last closed near $80, and the consensus price target is $99.27.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Wolfe Research raised its Underperform rating to Outperform. The stock most recently closed at $44.57 and has a consensus price target of $55.83.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN): JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $141 price target. Shares last closed near $95 and have a consensus price target of $113.92.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade to Equal Weight from Underweight included a price target raise to $15 from $12. The stock was last seen trading near $13. The consensus target is $14.43. The 52-week trading range is $3.73 to $14.16.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $180 price target. Shares last closed at $150.25, and the consensus price target is $167.38.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY): Morgan Stanley both upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the price target to $40 from $32. The consensus price target is $31.52. The stock has a 52-week range of $8.52 to $32.52 and recently closed near $28 a share.

Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst said that it is time for bulls to camp out in this bounce play opportunity. The stock most recently closed at $104.84 and has a consensus price target of $143.44.

Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE: TUP): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock, saying that while this stock has fallen from great heights, it might have room to go lower. Shares last closed at $21.18, and the consensus price target is $39.33.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): Wolfe Research upgraded it to Peer Perform from Underperform. The stock recently closed near $54 a share, in a 52-week range of $29.23 to $63.70. Analysts have a consensus price target of $60.26.

Four tech stocks from the Raymond James Analysts Current Favorites picks are not overextended or overbought and have the biggest percentage upside to the price targets. They may be very good ideas for aggressive growth investors looking to reset portfolios for the rest of the year.

Did Warren Buffett sell GM, Merck, Sirius XM and other stocks too soon? And meme stocks on the move Thursday included AMC, Canoo and Cleveland-Cliffs.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, Bill.com, Boot Barn, Camping World, Charter Communications, Coca-Cola and Jack in the Box. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on American Express, Northern Trust, Nvidia, QuantumScape and Stanley Black & Decker and more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.