The futures traded higher Friday, as investors cheered the nonfarm payroll numbers that finally met and exceeded Wall Street expectations. More all-time highs were posted Thursday on each of the big indexes, except the Dow Jones industrials. That combined with the very straightforward commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell this week, in which he reminded investors not to confuse the beginning of the tapering of quantitative easing bond purchases with any start to the hiking of the federal funds rate. Some say the first hike could come in the summer of next year, while others say 2023 is the most likely start date.

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, November 5, 2021.

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL): Raymond James downgraded shares of the insurance giant to Outperform from Strong Buy and sliced the price objective to $140 from $150. The analysts’ consensus target is $146.08. The stock closed trading Thursday at $117.10, which was down over 7% for the day after mixed quarterly results were posted.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC): Wedbush downgraded the meme stock favorite to Underperform from Neutral and has a $7.50 price target. The consensus target is even lower at $5.44. The stock closed much higher on Thursday, at $40.05.

The Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE): Stephens raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and boosted the price target to $48 from $36. The consensus target is $39. The stock closed on Thursday at $37.03, over 5% higher for the day after beating analysts’ third-quarter estimates.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP): SMBC Nikko started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $20 price target. The posted consensus target is $22.71. The final trade on Thursday came in at $18.26.

Bookings Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised the $2,850 price target to $2,900. Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating but raised the price target on the online travel giant from $2,230 to $2,430. The consensus target is $2,539.64, and the final trade for Thursday was reported at $2,437.01 a share. The company posted very solid results for the quarter.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): Siebert Williams Shank downgraded the energy giant from Buy to Hold with a $55 price target. The consensus target is $51.01. The stock retreated almost 5% on Thursday to close at $44.65, in the wake of disappointing results this week.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Like a host of other Wall Street firms, JPMorgan reiterated a Buy rating on the retailing mammoth, and the analyst lifted the target price to $552 from $500. The consensus target is just $484.80. The stock closed at $515.62, up almost 3% for the day on extremely strong quarterly results.

Cutera Inc. (NASDAQ: CUTR): Maxim Group upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a $60 price target. The consensus target is $64.25. The final trade Thursday came in at $45.10.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the video game giant and lifted the price objective to $170 from $165. Credit Suisse also reiterated an Outperform rating, and it boosted its $175 target price to $177. The consensus target is $172.59. Thursday’s closing share price of $142.48 came after a 2% for the day. The company posted very strong quarterly results.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Like others on Wall Street, Needham reiterated a Buy rating, and it increased its price target to $265 from $250. The consensus target is $235.50. The stock blew through those levels Thursday, closing at $271.27. It was up over 13% on the day after posting huge positive results for the quarter.

HubSpot Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBS): Raymond James, like a host of other Wall Street firms, reiterated a Strong Buy rating, and it lifted its $800 price target higher to $900. The consensus target for the red-hot tech company is $813.78, but the last trade for Thursday was reported at $819.08. That was up over 5% for the day, after solid third-quarter results were posted.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM): Morgan Stanley and other Wall Street firms reiterated their Overweight and Outperform ratings on the health care giant, Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $513 to $559, well above the consensus target is $486.46. The stock was last seen trading at $453.55. The company posted higher revenue for the quarter but income did slip some.

Lumen Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LUMN): Citigroup raised its Sell rating to Neutral with a $23 price target. The consensus target is just $11.10. The stock closed Thursday at $13.72, after a pop of almost 13% in the wake of stellar quarterly results.
Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT): Daiwa Securities upgraded the popular ride-sharing stock to Buy from Outperform and has a $60 price target. That compares with a higher $69.21 consensus target and the final print on Thursday of $49.14.

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC): Piper Sandler upgraded the real estate giant to Overweight from Neutral and also raised the target price to $22 from $15. The consensus target is $18.60, and the stock was last seen at $21.64 on Thursday.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): Truist Securities downgraded the home fitness stock to Hold from Buy and has a $68 price target. The consensus target is $127.19. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $86.06, but it was blasted in premarket action, falling a stunning 31%, after reporting a wider-than-expected net loss for the September quarter and cutting its full fiscal-year outlook.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): SMBC Nikko started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $50 price objective. That compares with the lower $44.89 consensus and Thursday closing print of $40.23.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): DZ Bank upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and has a $168 price target. The consensus target is $179.22. The shares closed Thursday at $156.11, up almost 13% on the day on knockout third-quarter results.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating on the stock but slashed the target price to $400 from $500. JPMorgan reiterated an Underweight rating and cut the price objective to $295 from $310. The consensus target is $456.12. The stock closed on Thursday at $289.39, which was down almost 8% for the day after the company missed analysts’ earnings expectations.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Argus downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Zacks said that earnings are roasting investors, and the firm selected this coffee retailer as the Bear of the Day stock. The shares closed most recently at $112.16 and have a $122.62 consensus price target.

Five outstanding blue chip stocks have been hit hard this year and are offering growth and income investors incredible entry points and some big and, most importantly, reliable dividends. They are in sectors that look to benefit from the continued reopening of the economy as well.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BlackRock, Devon Energy, DuPont, JD.com, PayPal, Qualcomm, Simon Properties, Square and Zillow.

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