The futures traded higher Tuesday after investors started off the final trading week of 2021 with a continuation of the Santa Claus rally that kicked off last week. All the major indexes closed higher Monday, and once again the S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time high. Analysts cited the potential for a smaller Build Back Better social spending and climate package as a positive. Buyers returned to the Treasury market as longer maturities, as the 10-year note and 30-year bond saw yields decline. Trading and volumes likely will stay muted this week, as many across Wall Street extend their holiday.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Tuesday, December 28, 2021.

BellRing Brands Inc. (NYSE: BRBR): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the stock and has a $41 price target. The analyst noted the company’s strong finish to the year. The consensus target price is $31.67, and shares were last seen on Monday at $27.75.

Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI): Benchmark started coverage with a Buy rating and an $86 price target. The consensus target is $105.67. The shares pulled back almost 3% on Monday to close at $44.59 a share.

BridgeBio Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: BBIO): SVB Leerink reiterated an Outperform rating but cut the target price to $24 from $66, while Mizuho kept a Buy rating but slashed its $86 target price to $25. The posted consensus target is $81.20 but will tumble soon. The stock closed Monday at $11.53, down a stunning 70% after it said clinical trials for ATTR-CM did not meet the primary endpoints.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA): Baird lowered its $350 price target to $300 but kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The consensus target is $373.78. The stock closed Monday at $231.47, which was down almost 4% for the day.

Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC): Raymond James reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $100 price target, after the company announced the closing of a big European OEM contract. The consensus target is even higher at $119.42. The closing share price on Monday was $79.58.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the popular shoe company and has a massive $250 target price. The consensus target is just $193.88. Monday’s final trade was reported at $126.63, up close to 3% on the day.

Decker’s Outdoors Corp. (NYSE: DECK): Baird reiterated its Outperform rating and has a gigantic $525 price objective. The consensus target for shares of the apparel and footwear giant is $480.25. The stock closed at $356.85 on Monday.

Evergy Inc. (NYSE: EVRG): UBS maintained a Buy rating and a $75 price target on the utility stock. The lower consensus target is $70.50, and Monday’s closing print was $67.38.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME): Zacks has selected this meme stock as its Bear of the Day, citing the bloated market valuation that does not reflect the dying brick-and-mortar fundamentals or future performance. Shares last closed at $148.31, but the consensus price target is just $83.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS): The company has navigated the choppy pandemic waters with a level of operational perfection that no other major financial institution could match, says Zacks, which named it as the Bull of the Day stock. The shares most recently closed at $388.04 and have a consensus price target of $456.88, which would be a 52-week high.

InnovAge Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: INNV): Barclays lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and slashed the price target from $22 to $6.50. Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut its $15 price target to $4. The consensus target is $8.64. The stock was last seen on Monday at $4.64, down almost 13% for the day, after a stunning 35% decline last week. The company has announced audit sanctions in Colorado and pulled guidance.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): UBS has a Buy rating and a $192 price target, after the firm’s positive view on the company’s progress in China. The consensus target is just $184.21. The last trade on Monday for the sports apparel and footwear leader was reported at $167.40 per share.

Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE: NOMD): Goldman Sachs nudged the $28 price target to $29 but kept a Neutral rating on the stock. The consensus target is up at $33.10. The shares closed at $24.81 on Monday.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Buy-rated stock to $134 from $131. The consensus target is $120.22. Monday’s final trade was reported at $107.27.

On Holding AG (NYSE: ONON): UBS reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and has a $55 price target. While noting the rich valuation the analysts feel that the company has much bigger growth potential than what is priced in currently. The consensus target is $48.21. The stock closed Monday at $36.55, which was down over 5% on the day.
Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ: QDEL): Raymond James kept an Outperform rating on the stock and a $155 price target after the company announced the purchase of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The consensus target is up at $171.33. The stock closed Monday at $132.41 a share.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT): Oppenheimer kept an Outperform rating on the stock and has a $125 target price, after reviewing the basis for its upgrade of the shares earlier in December. The consensus target price is $123.47, and the shares closed trading on Monday at $90.96.

TRACON Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: TCON): Alliance Global reiterated a Buy rating on the micro-cap biotech and has an $11 price target. The consensus target is slightly higher at $11.86. The shares closed Monday at $2.91 apiece.

Veeco Instruments. Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO): Northland Capital reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock and has a $32 price target. The consensus price objective is $29.33. The final trade on Monday was reported at $27.42.

Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ: VIR): Baird maintained its Underperform rating and has a $36 price target on the stock. That compares with a much higher $91.43 consensus target and Monday’s last print of $40.39, which was down almost 4% for the day.

Weber Inc. (NYSE: WEBR): BofA Securities cut the $20 price target on the outdoor grill giant to $17, though the firm did keep its Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $17.29. The stock was last seen on Monday at $11.93.

Five Raymond James favorite stock picks are safer ideas for nervous investors concerned about the potential for inflation to wreak havoc on the economy in 2022. They are real estate investment trusts and dividend-paying commodity stocks.

Meet the preliminary Dogs of the Dow for 2022. Also, have a look at where OG meme stocks AMC and GameStop have been and where they could be headed.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bionano Genomics, CarMax, CNH Industrial, Global Payments, Infosys, Huya, JD.com, Oshkosh, Restaurant Brands International and WiPro. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Chesapeake Energy, GameStop, Victoria’s Secret and more.

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