The futures were down Friday, as we ready to end an extremely bad trading week for equites. While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq shook off the follow-through selling Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials closed lower. Friday’s options expiration could add more fuel to the selling fire. A massive amount of market stabilizing gamma in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq is set to expire, so a large amount of sell programs could be triggered. Toss in the worries that the reopening strength is waning due to the Delta variant and that could push the selling even more.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. Given the latest 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 Friday, August 20, 2021.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): HSBC Securities raised the stock to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $59.50 from $57.00. The consensus target price is in line at $59.06. The last trade on Thursday hit the tape at $43.34, after retreating over 5% on the day.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the utility to Sector Perform from Outperform and has a $109 price target. The consensus price objective is $107.10. The stock closed on Thursday at $106.88 a share. As it is trading just shy of a 52-week high, this looks like a valuation call.

FibroGen Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN): Raymond James raised the stock to Market Perform from Underperform. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $11.47 and $57.21, and they have a $21.57 price objective. Thursday’s last trade was reported at $11.47, which was down close to 5% for the day.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell from Neutral included a price target cut to $10 from $17. That compares with the $32 consensus target and Thursday’s closing price of $13.84. The stock was down almost 7% in Friday’s premarket.

Janus International Group Inc. (NYSE: JBI): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $18 price target. No consensus target for the building products giant was available. The stock popped almost 4% on Thursday to close at $14.45.

Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL): Loop Capital raised the pool supply giant’s stock to Buy from Hold and has a $25 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $33.36. The final Thursday trade came in at $21.60, or down over 3% for the day.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M): JPMorgan upgraded the venerable retailer’s stock to Neutral from Underweight and also lifted the price target to $25 from $19. The consensus target is $19.15. The shares closed on Thursday at $21.61, up a stunning 20% after posting stellar earnings.

Magenta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGTA): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $7 price target. The consensus target is up at $17.14. Thursday’s final trade came in at $6.07.

MKS Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: MKSI): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $160 price target. The posted consensus price objective is $226.89. Thursday’s closing share price was $140.42.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): HSBC Securities upgraded the stock to a Buy from Hold and also raised the price target to $39 from $27. The consensus target is $40.16. The stock closed on Thursday at $29.57, after pulling back almost 5% on the day.

Myovant Sciences Ltd. (NYSE: MYOV): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and an $18 price target. The consensus target is up at $37.40. Thursday’s closing price was $21.28.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Benchmark resumed coverage of the semiconductor leader with a Buy rating and a $230 price target. That compares with the lower $200.56 consensus target and Thursday’s closing trade of $197.98, which was up almost 4% after the company posted stellar earnings.
Ontrak Inc. (NASDAQ: OTRK): Cowen downgraded the stock to Underperform from Market Perform and slashed the target price to $9 from $35. B. Riley Securities also downgraded the shares, to Neutral from Buy, and has a $15 target. The consensus price objective is $40. The shares were crushed Thursday, closing down almost 45% to $11.68. The selling continued in the premarket, as the stock was down an additional 8%.

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Neutral and dropped the price target to $73 from $85. The consensus target is $82.62. Thursday’s closing trade was at $80.08.

SAP S.E. (NYSE: SAP): Oppenheimer resumed coverage of the German technology giant with an Outperform rating and a $155 price target. The consensus target is just $132.06. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $147.02 a share.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Oppenheimer resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and lifted the price target to $700 from $610. This compares with the lower consensus price objective of $651.29 and Thursday’s final price of $586.92 per share.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): This e-commerce stock was selected as Bull of the Day at Zacks. The analyst suggested that Shopify shined long before the pandemic forced more businesses and shoppers down the e-commerce route, plus it posted another strong quarter at the end of July and its outlook remains impressive. Shares closed most recently at $1,466.11 and have a consensus price target of $1,670.84.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Oppenheimer resumed coverage of the stock with an Outperform rationing and a $285 price target. The consensus target is $283.15. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $231.90.

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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, Bill.com, Brinker, Illumina, McAfee, Nvidia, Nasdaq, SeaWorld, Target and Weibo. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Apple, Autodesk, Beazer Homes and more.

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