The futures traded down across the board on Thursday, after a see-saw day that saw all the indexes trade in and out of the red Wednesday, until investors reviewed the FOMC minutes in the afternoon which indicated the tapering of the quantitative easing could begin this year. That triggered some big-time selling and all the indexes closed down sharply. In addition, the massive reopening across the country has slowed considerably, and more and more restrictions are starting to be announced, increasing the concerns that growth will slow further. The Las Vegas Raiders NFL team told fans this week that those attending their games in the fall will have to show they are vaccinated.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve has vowed to keep interest rates contained. Given the FOMC commentary, it is looking like the tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt could indeed be in the works by the end of the year and purchases could be completed by the end of 2022.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, which may have seen a beginning on Tuesday, 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, August 19, 2021.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT): Daiwa Securities started coverage on the semiconductor equipment giant with an Outperform rating and a $140 price target. The consensus target for the stock is $160.81. The shares closed trading on Wednesday at $127.37.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and boosted the target price to $250 from $155. The consensus price objective is just $191.50. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $204.92, after rising over 4% on the day, and shares were trending higher in Thursday’s premarket.

BrightSpire Capital Inc. (NASDAQ: BRSP): BTIG Research upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has an $11.50 price target. The consensus target is $12.50. The stock closed om Wednesday at $9.37.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target for the popular Chili’s restaurant parent company to $66 from $76, while keeping a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $75.50. The shares were last seen on Wednesday at $51.60.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $77 price target. That compares with a $78.67 consensus target and a Wednesday closing print of $76.58.

Holley Inc. (NASDAQ: HLLY): Jefferies began coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 price target. The consensus target for shares of the auto parts company is $15.33. The last trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $10.82.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): SVB Leerink downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and has a $425 price target. The consensus price objective is higher at $460.17. The last Wednesday trade was posted at $510.61.

McAfee Corp. (NYSE: MCFE): Zacks has named this stock as its Bear of the Day. The analyst says that estimates have dropped on this security software company. Shares last closed at $25.64, and the consensus price target is $29.43.

Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM): D.A. Davidson started coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $15 price target. The consensus price objective is much higher at $27.50. The stock closed on Wednesday at $9.11 a share.

Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ): Zacks points out that the exchange that oversees trading in most tech and biotech stocks is quite a stock itself, so the firm has named it as the Bull of the Day. The shares most recently closed at $186.89 and have a consensus price target of $198.23.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Summit Insights downgraded the semiconductor giant to Sell from Hold. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded in a 4-for-1 split-adjusted range of $115.67 to $208.75, and it has a consensus price target of $200.56. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $190.40. The company posted huge second-quarter revenue that jumped 68% on gaming and data center strength

Oatly Group AB (NASDAQ: OTLY): RBC Capital Markets raised the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and has a $28 price target. The consensus price objective is $30.73. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $15.16.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the shares to $52 from $47 but kept a Neutral rating on the theme park giant. The posted consensus price target is $62.73. The stock closed at $48.21 on Wednesday.
Smartsheet Inc. (NYSE: SMAR): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and also raised the target price to $85 from $65. The consensus target is $79.31. The final trade on Wednesday came in at $68.25.

Talkspace Inc. (NASDAQ: TALK): Citigroup began coverage with a Buy rating and a $7 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $11. The last Wednesday trade was reported at $5.11.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the retail giant to $281 from $246, while maintaining the firm’s Buy rating after the company posted stellar second-quarter results. The consensus target is $262. The shares fell almost 3% on Wednesday to close at $247.58.

Toro Co. (NYSE: TTC): Baird downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $116 price target. That compares with a $114.33 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing price of $111.34.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS): Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral with a $16 price target. The consensus target is $16 as well. The last Wednesday trade came in at $14.26.

Weibo Corp. (NASDAQ: WB): Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and lifted the target price to $56 from $48. The consensus target is $58.17. The stock popped almost 4% on Wednesday, closing at $48.01 a share.

W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE: WRB): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and also lifted the price target to $86 from $80. The consensus price objective is $86.71. The shares closed trading on Wednesday at $74.08.

These five stocks are not overextended or overbought and are solid ideas in a very pricey stock market. While none of them soon will be making any massive parabolic moves higher, they look like very good ideas for growth investors seeking to reset portfolios to safer sectors.

See how much Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest ETFs are being shorted now, and whether expectations are too high for lithium products makers.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BlackBerry, GXO Logistics, Huntington Bancshares, Sonos, Tencent Music, ViacomCBS and Wendy’s. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Centennial Resource Development, Latch and more.

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