The futures were higher again on Thursday, after the markets kept the winning streak alive on Wednesday. Once again, all the major indexes printed fresh all-time highs, and the risk-off strength could very well stay in place after the services numbers and factory orders came in way above expectations. Two additional positives for the risk-on crowd was the ADP private payrolls, which were up 571,000 in October, well above estimates on a jump in hospitality hires, and the Federal Reserve, which delivered no surprises from their meeting, after telegraphing for the past week what they had in mind.

In addition, while interest rates are going nowhere anytime soon, quantitative easing will indeed start this month. Given those positive ADP numbers, Friday’s nonfarm, payrolls will become a crucial data point for Wall Street.

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 November 4, 2021.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Truist Securities upgraded the oil giant’s stock to Buy from Hold and has a $45 price target. The posted consensus target is $30.86. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $27.63. Shares were almost 5% higher in the premarket, after the company posted solid third-quarter earnings.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK): BofA Securities resumed coverage of the financial money management giant with a Buy rating and a $1,080 price target. The consensus target is $974.27, and the final trade on Wednesday came in at $951.70 a share.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating but trimmed the price target on the shares to $37 from $30. That is right in line with the $30.25 consensus target. Wednesday’s closing trade of $21.43 was up close to 6% for the day.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): Benchmark upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy with a $48 price target. The consensus target is $46.10. The stock closed on Wednesday at $41.97 per share.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD): Credit Suisse raised its Neutral rating on the chemical conglomerate to Outperform and boosted the $76 target price to $95. The consensus target is $91.78. The last trade for Wednesday was at $80.15, which was up almost 4% for the day.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the shares and has a $114 price target. The consensus target is $108.76, and Wednesday’s final print of $95.27 was down close to 5% on the day.

JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $98 price target. The consensus target is $98.13. The stock closed at $81.36 on Wednesday.

Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: LSCC): KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating on the stock and boosted the price target to $80 from $72. The consensus target is just $63.20. After the company delivered outstanding third-quarter results, the stock jumped almost 6% on Wednesday to close at $77.41.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform and has a $176 price target. The consensus price objective is higher at $192.94. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $179.509, an almost 4% gain for the day.

MPLX L.P. (NYSE: MPLX): Goldman Sachs remains bullish on the energy master limited partnership and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares, but the firm also trimmed the target price to $35 from $36. The consensus target of $33.76, and Wednesday’s closing trade was at $30.92 per share.

PayPal Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): SMBC Nikko started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $200 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $325.93. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $230.28.

Pool Corp. (NASDAQ: POOL): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst said that outdoor products remain red hot on the reopening. The stock most recently closed at $516.43 and has a consensus price target of $562.43, which would be a 52-week high.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Goldman Sachs raised its Neutral rating to Buy and increased the target price to $194 from $162. The posted consensus target is $178.72. Wednesday’s closing share price was $138.48, but shares were up almost 10% in the premarket in the wake of a strong earnings beat and raise quarter, and the company indicated above 20% earnings growth in fiscal 2022.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS): JPMorgan gave the shares a rare double upgrade from Underweight to Overweight, and it boosted the $110 target price to $160 as well. The consensus target is $115.50, below Wednesday’s close at $125.18. The stock traded more than 5% higher in premarket action, after a very solid earnings report.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the real estate giant, citing the firm’s outstanding third-quarter results. The analyst’s price objective is $188, which towers over the $158.14 consensus. Wednesday’s closing print of $166.24 was up almost 5% for the day.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ): SMBC Nikko started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $300 price target. The slightly higher $310.13 consensus target is also well above Wednesday’s closing share price of $252.48.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT): Compass Point upgraded shares of the outlet mall giant from Neutral to Buy with a $23 price target. The consensus target is just $16.29, but the shares were last seen on Wednesday at $21.34, after rising almost 5% on the day.

Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating and $215 price target after the company posted solid results. The consensus target is $209.21. The final trade Wednesday was reported at $214.29 a share.

Yum China Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YUMC): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day, pointing out that COVID-19 outbreaks are slowing restaurant sales in China. Shares last closed at $57.32, and they have traded between $52.53 and $69.67 in the past year.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Citigroup lowered its Buy rating to Neutral and slashed the price target from $185 to $86. The consensus target is $146.21. The stock closed at $65.86 on Wednesday, down almost 23% after the company said it is exiting the home selling business.

Five well-known small-cap stocks have tremendous upside potential, are Buy rated and offer investors a way to help diversify portfolios. They look like great ideas now.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Anheuser-Busch, Clorox, Exxon Mobil, Ford, Lyft, Shopify, Skillz, T-Mobile, Under Armour and Zillow. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Activision Blizzard, Alibaba, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.

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