The futures were higher on Monday, as investors looked forward to earnings from a couple of major Dow Jones industrials stocks. Although the broad markets broke their stride last week due to increased inflation concerns, they closed out the week on a strong note, and Monday’s futures seemed to reflect this.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on the potential for rising interest rates, the quantitative easing tapering, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries. Toss in the debt ceiling issue that will return soon and the ongoing China worries, and the cauldron continues to simmer.

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 Monday, November 15, 2021.

Acutus Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIB): JPMorgan downgraded the stock to an Underweight rating from Neutral. The $13.33 consensus target is much higher than Friday’s closing print of $3.64 per share.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Oppenheimer downgraded it to Perform from Outperform. The consensus target is $134.31, and shares last closed at $111.51.

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD): Stifel’s upgrade was to Buy from Hold, and it raised the $12 price target to $16. The posted consensus target is $16.67. The stock was last seen Friday at $11.34, and shares were up over 4% in the premarket.

BioXcel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: BTAI): Goldman Sachs lowered its Neutral rating to Sell and slashed the price target from $55 to $24. The consensus target is $92.82. The stock closed Friday at $34.53. Shares were down over 13% in Monday’s premarket.

Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK): H.C. Wainwright upgraded it from Neutral to Buy with a $50 price target. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $9.95 to $64.50 and has a $38.50 consensus target. The last trade for Friday came in at $40.01.

ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT): JPMorgan initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $26 price target. The consensus target is $33.33. The share price rose over 4% on Friday to close at $26.82.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): UBS upgraded it to Buy from Neutral and has a $125 price target. The consensus target is $127.42. The stock closed on Friday at $114.23.

CMC Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: CCMP): The Goldman Sachs upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a price target hike to $192 from $149. Shares most recently closed at $144.94, and the consensus price target is $160.63.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day and pointed out that this popular wholesale retailer keeps knocking it out of the park. Shares most recently closed at $517.17, still near the recent 52-week high of $520.21.

CytomX Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CTMX): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $16 price target. The consensus target is $13.14. Friday’s final trade came in at $7.02.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR): Deutsche Bank upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and raised the price target from $96 to $148. The consensus target is $106.33. The shares closed Friday at $113.08.

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR): BofA Securities raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and has a $24 price target. That compares with the $23.00 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $22.33.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB): Zacks has named this paper products giant as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst cited the soaring costs and inflationary pressures that are weighing on the maker of Kleenex. Shares last closed at $133.91, and the consensus price target is just $131.37.

KLA Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC): Atlantic Equities started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $490 price target. The consensus price objective is $410.25. The last trade for Friday was delivered at $413.28 a share.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE): Goldman Sachs downgraded it to a Neutral rating from Buy and cut the $59 price target to $57. The last trade on Friday came in at $50.81, and the consensus price target is $61.73.

Petco Health and Wellness Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF): The Jefferies downgrade was to Hold from Buy, and the firm has a $26 price target. The consensus target is $27.67. The share price was last seen Friday at $24.74, and it was down over 3% in Monday’s premarket.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NASDAQ: PAA): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to an Outperform rating from In Line and has a $14 price target. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $7.82 and $12.38, and they have a $13.00 consensus price objective. The stock closed on Friday at $10.62.

Radware Ltd. (NASDAQ: RDWR): Oppenheimer downgraded it to Perform from Outperform. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $24.79 and $39.78, and it closed at $32.54 on Friday.

Root Inc. (NASDAQ: ROOT): The Barclays downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight included a price target cut to $3 from $5. The consensus target is up at $7.25. The shares were last seen on Friday at $5.59.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): The Loop Capital downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $1,600 price target. The final trade Friday came in at $1,669.52, which was up over 12% on the day. The consensus price target is $1,673.06.

23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ME): Citigroup downgraded it to a Neutral rating from Buy and bumped up the price target to $13 from $12. The consensus target is $14.00. The last trade for Friday was reported at $12.62.

24/7 Wall St. screened the BofA Securities research universe, looking for the top gold stocks, and found five that look like great ideas for worried investors now. They hedge inflation and can really help if the market goes into correction or bear market mode.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Beyond Meat, Bumble, Embraer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lordstown Motors, Nvidia, Tencent Music Entertainment and Walt Disney. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Caesars Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, Southwestern Energy and more.

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