The futures were flat on Monday after investors digested a whopper of a consumer price index report on Friday showing the highest inflation rate since 1982. While all the major indexes closed slightly higher, the early gains on the open dissipated as investors and traders poured over the data. Top strategists around Wall Street cited supply chain disruptions, rapid and increasing consumer demand and rising housing costs, which combined to fuel the strongest inflationary surge in a generation.

Once again, Congress has kicked the debt ceiling can down the road, as the president signed a short-term government funding bill into law last week, preventing a shutdown. The measure will keep the government running through February 18. The House of Representatives has passed a procedural bill to start the process for increasing the debt ceiling.

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, December 13, 2021.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): JPMorgan reiterated its Overweight rating on the technology heavyweight and lifted the price target to $210 from $180. The consensus target is $170.78. The last trade on Friday was reported at $179.45.

Atmos Energy Corp. (NYSE: ATO): Barclays raised the giant utility to Equal Weight from Underweight and lifted the price target to $101 from $95. The consensus target is $108. The final trade on Friday was filled at $95.74.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO): JPMorgan raised the legacy soft drink stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the target price to $63 from $59. The consensus target is $62.26. The stock closed Friday at $56.28.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM): JPMorgan downgraded the company to Neutral from Overweight and cut the target price to $13 from $15. The consensus target is posted at $14.97. The last trade for Friday was reported at $11.34.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $251 price target. The consensus target is $224.85. The shares were last seen Friday at $155.49.

Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN): Zacks has picked this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst says that there are a lot of tailwinds for this staffing play for the health care system. Shares most recently closed at $25.58, and the consensus price target is $26.14.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO): Wedbush raised the shares to Outperform from Neutral and lifted the price target to $13.50 from $11. The consensus target is $11.80. The shares closed Friday at $10.66. The stock traded almost 4% higher in Monday’s premarket.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a giant $953 price target. That is versus the lower $846.91 consensus target and Friday’s final print of $723.59.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) UBS downgraded the drug giant to Neutral from Buy but slashed the target price to $76 from $98. The consensus target is $94.40. The stock ended trading on Friday at $72.62.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): JPMorgan upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral and nudged the price target to $110 from $108. That is versus the consensus target of $99.75 and Friday’s closing print of $89.32.

Northwestern Corp. (NYSE: NWE): Wells Fargo lowered the stock Equal Weight from Overweight but nudged the price target up to $59 from $58. The consensus target is $63.43. The shares closed Friday at $56.48.

Parker-Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $375 target price. The consensus is set lower at $369.69. The stock was last seen Friday at $318.93.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): UBS raised the pharmaceutical giant to Buy from Hold and has a $60 price target. The consensus target is posted at $51.80. The shares closed Friday at $52.78.

PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM): Wells Fargo raised the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $50 price target. The consensus target is $48.87. The shares ended trading Friday at $45.56.

Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating, to go along with a $1,570 target price. The consensus target is considerably higher at $1,675. The stock closed Friday at $1,461.58.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE): Seaport Research Partners raised the no-frills airline to Buy from Neutral and has a $33 price target. The consensus price objective is $33 as well. The stock closed Friday at $22.99.

TaskUs Inc. (NASDAQ: TASK): Morgan Stanley raised the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and boosted the price target to $55 from $37. The consensus target is $66.17. The stock closed Friday at $42.39.

Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the target price to $73 from $85. The consensus target is $85.89. The shares were last seen Friday at $68.12.

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ: WMG): Redburn raised its Sell rating to Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded in a range of $31.50 to $50.23, and they have a $46.75 consensus price objective. The final trade on Friday was reported at $40.81.

24/7 Wall St. screened the top stock picks at Goldman Sachs looking for the kind of companies that can fare well in 2022. Five pay reliable dividends and their stocks offer very good entry points at current levels and look like very solid ideas now.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altice USA, AppLovin, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Broadcom, Ciena, Cloudflare, Denison Mines, Diageo, Eli Lilly, Rio Tinto and Southwest Airlines.

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