The futures were higher across the board Thursday, after a strong risk-off rally Wednesday that saw all of the major indexes close near 1% or higher. Monday’s large sell-off moved the S&P 500 below the 50-day moving average and printed the first 5% drop in a year. It appears the buy-the-dip crowd felt emboldened to jump in Wednesday after watching the market hold its ground this week. Many felt that the buying was in part a result of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande revealing that an interest payment due had been resolved through negotiations with the clearing house. In addition, press reports highlighted chatter that the company secured a deal with bondholders to postpone interest payments to avoid default.

While the consumer price index and retail sales last week tempered some of the inflation and growth worries, mounting stagflation concerns continued to pick up amid the ongoing supply chain and input pressures, and recovery headwinds from spread of Delta variant. Many across Wall Street though that the Federal Reserve talking heads would offer very tangible tapering hints at this week’s meeting, and strategists also expected monetary policy to remain extremely accommodative. Fed Chair Powell noted Wednesday that the quantitative bond buying could be wrapped up by this time next year.

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, September 23, 2021.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Daiwa Securities downgraded shares of the biotech leader to Neutral from Outperform and has a $220 price objective The consensus target is up at $250. The stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $213.64 a share.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of the apartment REIT giant with a Buy rating and a $257 price target. The consensus target is $237.86. The stock closed on Wednesday at $223.48.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Needham started coverage of the biotech giant with a Buy rating and a $400 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $417. The final trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $288.32.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE): Piper Sandler started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $21 price target. The consensus price target is $31.54. The last trade for Wednesday came in at $19.28, a gain of almost 4% for the day.

Commscope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and has a $15 price target. The consensus target is up at $21.59. The stock closed at $13.77 on Wednesday.

Cutera Inc. (NASDAQ: CUTR): Zacks has selected this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst points out that this maker of lasers is posting some impressive growth and earnings numbers. Shares last closed at $48.38, and the consensus price target is $64.25.

Dada Nexus Ltd. (NASDAQ: DADA): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight but dropped the $35 price target to $31.60. The consensus target is $39.88. The stock closed on Wednesday at $20.50 per share.

Jazz Pharmaceutical PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating, and it has a $220 price target. That compares with the consensus target of $207.82 and Wednesday’s closing price of $129.55 a share.

Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM): Wolfe Research started coverage with a Peer Perform rating and a $24 price target. The consensus target is $24.36. The shares closed om Wednesday at $21.84.

Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ: LBYTA): Jefferies upgraded the communication services giant to Buy from Hold and lifted the price target to $36.40 from $28.30. The consensus target is $38.08. The stock closed Wednesday at $28.49.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT): Goldman Sachs downgraded the aerospace and defense leader to Neutral from Buy, and it has a $402 price target. The consensus target is up at $429.47. Wednesday’s final trade was reported at $341.73 a share.

NetEase Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES): Despite beating the number in three of the last four quarters, estimates are falling for this stock, says Zacks, which has named the Chinese internet company as the Bear of the Day. Shares closed most recently at $81.33 apiece and so far have a consensus price target of $124.73.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC): Goldman Sachs upgraded the defense giant to Neutral from Sell and has a $350 price target. The consensus target is $412.05. The last trade for Wednesday was posted at $348.52.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE): Bernstein upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a $66 price target. The consensus target for Oklahoma energy company’s stock is $56.50. The last trade for Wednesday came in at $54.85.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Piper Sandler’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral comes with a $33 price target. That compares with a higher $43.06 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $26.92, after close to a 4% gain for the day. The stock followed through in premarket trading, tacking on an additional 4.5%.

RBC Bearings Inc. (NASDAQ: ROLL): Truist Securities upgraded it to Buy from Hold and also boosted the target price to $250 from $220. That compares with the higher $260 consensus. Wednesday’s closing trade was $199.57, which was up almost 6% after the company completed a successful follow-on stock offering Wednesday.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): Guggenheim raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $395 target price. The posted consensus target is much higher at $470.67. The final Wednesday trade was reported at $324.77. The stock was 3% higher in premarket trading.

Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $72 price target. The consensus target is up at $91.38. The shares were last seen on Wednesday trading at $66.61.

Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR): The Raymond James upgrade to Strong Buy from Outperform included a target price boost to $67 from $65. The consensus target is $62.26. The stock closed Wednesday at $56.21.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: VIPS): JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and cut the price target to $11 from $22. The consensus target is $22.83. The stock popped almost 4% on Wednesday to close at $12.73. Shares dropped back almost 2% in premarket trading.

Four dividend-paying energy stocks are cheap, have some serious upside potential and are rated Buy at major Wall Street firms. They make good sense for growth and income investors looking to add positions in the sector but who want to be cautious in what has turned into a very volatile market.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, FedEx, McAfee, PubMatic, ServiceNow, Sofi Technologies, Trade Desk and Vale. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on AutoZone, BHP and Magnite.

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