The futures were being hammered across the board on Thursday after both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq once again posted new all-time highs on Wednesday. Investors continue to watch the massive drop in long-term interest rates as both the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yields have dropped to levels not seen since back in the winter. With mortgage applications falling to the lowest level since before the pandemic hit, this could spur a new round of refinancing and purchases. The release Wednesday of the mostly dovish Federal Reserve meeting minutes could provide a tailwind for another day as we head into second-quarter earnings next week.

Despite the concerns across Wall Street about 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 among the reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets even after sell-offs. It also should be noted 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 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, July 8, 2021.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on the shares with an Outperform rating and a $790 price target. The Wall Street consensus price target for the stock is $698. The shares were last seen on Wednesday at $612.22.

Bank of California Inc. (NASDAQ: BANC): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $19 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $22.65. The shares closed Wednesday at $16.70.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock, saying that a compelling story cannot make up for economic challenges and a sky-high valuation at this maker of plant-based meat substitutes. Shares last closed at $140.34 apiece, but the consensus price target is just $125.77.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW): Goldman Sachs removed the legacy discount brokerage firm from the company’s conviction list of top stock picks and downgraded its rating from Buy to Neutral with a $76 price target. The consensus target is $81.96. The stock closed Wednesday at $70.07, and shares traded down almost 5% in the premarket.

Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Citigroup began coverage with a Buy rating and a $138 price target. The consensus target is just $108.75. The shares closed on Wednesday at $107.31.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): Zacks selected this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst suggests that with agricultural commodity prices on the rise, the company’s advanced machines have never been in higher demand. Shares closed most recently at $351.88 and have a consensus price target of $408.84.

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH): HSBC Securities raised the stock to Hold from Reduce and has a $40 price target. The consensus target for the satellite entertainment provider is up at $49.59. The stock closed at $40.91 on Wednesday.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the homebuilder to Sector Perform from Outperform and lowered the price target to $101 from $104. The consensus target is $108.50. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $92.99.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Neutral rating on the shares and kept a $241 price target. The consensus target is $245.44. The stock closed on Wednesday at $248.22.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $250 price target. That compares with the consensus target of $225.44 and Wednesday’s closing price of $192.90 a share.

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $375 price target. The $313.81 consensus target is less than Wednesday’s closing print of $339.59.

Fair Isaac Corp. (NASDAQ: FICO): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $577 price target. That compares with a lower $551.48 consensus price target and Wednesday’s closing print of $521.37.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and has a $29 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $44.29. The last trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $36.21. Shares were down almost 5% in premarket action.

Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOG): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $27 price target. The consensus target is $24.00. The shares closed trading Wednesday at $11.09, which was down almost 8% for the day.
Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $147 price target. The posted consensus target is $119.14, and the stock retreated over 4% on Wednesday to close at $122.22.

Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ; LTRX): Needham began coverage with a Buy rating and a $6.50 price target. The consensus target is $7.33, and the stock closed at $5.27 on Wednesday.

9 Meters Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: NMTR): BMO Capital Markets started coverage on the micro-cap biotech with a Buy rating and a $5 price target. The consensus target is $4.25, and the stock closed trading on Wednesday at $1.03.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF): The Raymond James downgrade was to Market Perform from Outperform. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between 9.89 and $23.81 a share, and it has a consensus price objective of $23.39. The shares closed on Wednesday at $19.43.

Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE): Goldman Sachs also removed this company from its conviction list of top stocks, but the firm kept a Buy rating with a $149 price target. The consensus target is $150.78, and Wednesday’s final print was at $133.45.

Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI): Raymond James upgraded it to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $78 price target. The consensus price objective is $75.63. Wednesday’s final trade came in at $62.12.

TransUnion (NYSE: TRU): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $128 price target. The consensus target is $117.14. The stock closed on Wednesday at $113.64.

With interest rates dropping again and the stock market overdue for a breather, five Buy-rated blue chip stocks that pay at least a 4% dividend look very appealing now to growth and income investors.

See how Warren Buffett’s financial stocks have fared, as well as what CNBC’s Jim Cramer shares themes to watch in the second half of the year. And a new Bitcoin ETF may be in the wings.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Airlines, Bank of America, Masco, Morgan Stanley, Rite Aid and Wells Fargo. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Citigroup, Coinbase, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and more.

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