The futures were lower across the board on Monday, as we begin the holiday-shortened trading week. After a grim start Friday, stocks managed to rebound some as the buy-the-dip crowd finally showed up. Technology stocks, which have been blasted on fears of higher interest rates, staged a modest rebound and closed almost flat, but they could see some more choppy trading this week. The Dow Jones industrials were hammered, closing down almost 1.5%. Rising Omicron variant cases are being cited as one reason for the big risk-off moves lately.

With much of the Federal Reserve’s forward-looking initiatives now baked in, Wall Street strategists are continuing to focus on big increases in energy and food costs and other spiraling inflation issues, as well as the ongoing supply chain concerns and stagflation worries.

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 20, 2021.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating on the stock but slashed the target price from $760 to $680. JPMorgan kept a Neutral rating and dropped the target to $645 from $680, while UBS maintained a Buy rating and dropped its target to $635 from $690. An additional six firms all lowered the price targets after the company posted solid results but warned of the potential for slowing growth next year. The consensus target of $709.39 will be lowered soon. Friday’s last trade came in at $556.64, down close to 2% for the day.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): Cleveland Research raised its Neutral rating to Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $65.52 to $140.53 and have a $127.43 consensus price target. The shares closed Friday well above that level at $135.03.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Barclays upgraded the legacy communications giant to Buy from Neutral and has a $30 price target. The consensus target is $30.56. The stock closed Friday at $23.78.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst wonders if the owner of Chili’s and Maggiano’s can rebound after the intense labor and supply challenges it faced last quarter. The shares last closed at $35.49, but they have traded as high as $78.33 in the past year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY): Goldman Sachs started the pharmaceutical giant with a Buy rating and a $72 price target. The consensus target is $72.53. The stock closed at $61.56 on Friday.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC): Piper Sandler downgraded the marijuana stock to Underweight from Neutral and slashed the $11 target price to $7. The consensus target is $13.49. The stock closed on Friday at $9.59. The shares were down over 5% in the premarket.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): Daiwa Securities started coverage of the cybersecurity giant with an Outperform rating and a $224 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $296.82. The last trade on Friday was at $205.10.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Buy rating and a $400 price target. That compares with the slightly higher $406.45 consensus and Friday’s closing print of $347.03.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV): Mizuho began coverage with a Buy rating and a $195 price target. The consensus target is $186.92. The shares were last seen on Friday at $170.29.

Eli Lilly and Co. Inc. (NYSE: LLY): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $236 price target. The final trade for Friday was reported at $267.42, which was down over 4% for the day.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating but trimmed the target price on the shares to $500 from $540. The consensus target is $518.89. The last trade on Friday was at $357.43, which was up over 2% for the day.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ): BMO Capital Markets raised shares of the money management giant from Market Perform to Outperform with a $33 price objective. The shares ended trading on Friday at $22.61.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): JPMorgan downgraded the medical devices leader to Neutral from Overweight and cut the target price to $105 from $130. The consensus target is $136.85. The shares closed trading on Friday at $100.63.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $44 price target. The consensus target is $45.84, and the stock was last seen Friday at $36.46.

Northern Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE: NOG): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $28 price target. The consensus target is higher at $32.31. The stock closed trading Friday at $19.18, up almost 4% on the day.

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $118 price target. The consensus target is $127.11. The stock closed Friday at $108.23.
Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PLTK): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 price target. The consensus is higher at $32.70. The stock closed at $17.76 on Friday.

Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $136 price target. The consensus price objective is $114.40. The stock popped almost 8% on Friday to close at $102.40.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX): Credit Suisse upgraded the theme park leader to Outperform from Neutral and nudged the $52 target price to $53. The consensus target is $53.44. The stock ended trading on Friday at $40.23.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird’s downgrade of the ubiquitous coffee retailer to Neutral from Outperform included a target price cut to $116 from $126. The consensus target is $123.39. The last trade on Friday was reported at $108.63, down over 4%.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR): Zacks named this stock its Bull of the Day. The analyst says that this luxury retailer posted impressive growth last quarter and 2022 could be a record year. The shares most recently closed at $41.26 and have a consensus price target of $56.06, which would be a 52-week high.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Guggenheim started coverage of the electric vehicle colossus with a Neutral rating and a $924 price target. This compares with an $849.64 consensus target and Friday’s final print of $932.57.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM): Mizuho started coverage of the industrial heavyweight with a Neutral rating and a $180 price target. The consensus target is $187.22. The shares closed down 2% on Friday at $174.75.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and trimmed the target price to $27 from $28. The consensus target is $31.26. The shares closed Friday at $25.79.

A new BofA Securities research report features 11 top stock picks for 2022, one for each recognized sector. For investors looking to add stocks for a diversified portfolio for the coming year, this is an outstanding list to work from.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bank of New York Mellon, Canoo, Cigna, Fiserv, Invesco, Merck, ONEOK, Progressive, Robinhood Markets, Ross Stores and Wayfair.

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