The futures were lower across the board on Monday, as we start the second big week of earnings after a rather calm finish last week. Investors cheered the positive retail sales report on Friday, which showed consumers are spending more than expected, as sales at U.S. retailers jumped 0.6% in June, versus the expectations for a 0.4% rise. However, the report also showed that consumers are indeed paying more for a variety of goods and services, even as the Federal Reserve contends it is just a transitory stage and should ease by the fall.

Despite the continued concerns across Wall Street about tapering of the quantitative easing program and the 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. 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 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 Monday, July 19, 2021.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage on the home security giant with an Outperform rating and a $12 price target. The posted consensus target is $10.89. The stock closed trading on Friday at $10.18.

Aeva Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AEVA): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and an $11 price target. The consensus target is $21.20. The stock closed Friday at $9.71.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the aluminum giant and also added the stock to the firm’s Conviction List of top stocks to buy. Goldman Sachs has a $51 price target for the shares, while the consensus target is just $42.55. The stock closed on Friday at $32.95, which was down almost 5% for the day.

Ameresco Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRC): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $77 price target. The consensus price objective is $71.30. The shares closed at $61.45 on Friday.

Apria Inc. (NASDAQ: APR): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and lowered the price target to $29 from $32. The consensus price objective is $33.40. The shares closed Friday at $27.63, after rising almost 4% on the day.

BrainsWay Ltd. (NASDAQ: BWAY): H.C. Wainwright started coverage with a Buy rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is $14.50. The stock ended Friday trading at $9.

Cambridge Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATC): Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $105 price target. The consensus price target is $93.50. The last trade on Friday hit the tape at $83.60.

Centerspace Inc. (NYSE: CSR): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform and has a $96 price target. The consensus price objective is $78.71. The stock closed at $86.59 on Friday.

Doximity Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCS): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $36 price target. The company had a recent successful initial public offering and the quiet period has just ended, so no consensus target is posted yet. Since the deal was priced, the shares have traded between $41.17 and $65.42. Friday’s last trade was reported at $54.35, which was up almost 3% for the day.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst said surprises abound as Cologuard and Precision Oncology grow sales 20% into next year. The stock most recently closed at $114.00 and has a consensus price target of $156.26.

GoDaddy Inc. (NASDAQ: GDDY): Morgan Stanley started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $95 price target. The consensus target is higher at $102.38. The shares closed trading on Friday at $85.01.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH): Seaport Global Securities raised its Hold rating to Buy and has a $50 price target. The consensus target for the popular homebuilder is $53.60. The shares were last seen on Friday at $38.93.

MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ): Cowen started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $120 price target. The higher $125.50 consensus target is also well above Friday’s closing print of $99.18.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on its Wall Street competitor, citing its top market share position in equities and gained share in advisory. The firm also sees further strength in investment banking going forward, even as the analysts expect continued normalization in trading revenue. The Goldman Sachs price target is at $100, which is just higher than the $98.53 consensus target. The stock ended last week trading at $91.25 a share.

NOV Inc. (NYSE: NOV): The BMO Capital Markets upgrade to Market Perform from Underperform included a price target hike to $15 from $14. The consensus target is $17.47. The shares closed on Friday at $13.62.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Goldman Sachs upgraded the chip giant to Neutral from Sell and also raised the price target to $148 from $136. The consensus price objective is higher at $171.44. Friday’s final trade was reported at $139.71.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): When Credit Suisse upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform, the firm also doubled the price target to $16 from $8. The consensus target is $15.35. The stock closed Friday at $14.87, which was down 4% on the day.

Squarespace Inc. (NASDAQ: SQSP): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $73 price target. The consensus price objective is $72. The stock closed Friday at $52.27. That was down almost 4% for the day.

Teleflex In. (NYSE: TFX): SVB Leerink downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform, and it has a $410 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $472.70. The shares were last seen on Friday at $390.32.

Vericel Corp. (NASDAQ: VCEL): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock even though restoring cartilage in sports medicine and rebuilding skin after severe burns gave this small-cap big upside. Shares last closed at $50.69, and the consensus price target is $65.71.

Four of the semiconductor industry’s best companies are top stock picks at Jefferies, and aggressive growth investors looking for an alpha upside boost for the rest of the summer may want to consider positions.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alibaba, Chewy, Danaher, Energy Transfer, LyondellBasell, LiveNation, Salesforce, Seagate, Splunk and Textron. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Alcoa, Comerica, Shell Midstream, Thermo Fisher and more.

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