The futures were mixed Thursday, after a huge risk-off Wednesday in which the Dow Jones industrials, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq (which was down a stunning 3.35%) all closed lower. With the window for the Santa Claus rally closed, and fourth-quarter earnings still in the queue, it feels like investors and traders were busy hedging bets and taking profits as we began trading in the new year.

The Treasury bond market saw sellers again Wednesday, as yields crept higher across the curve. That could have been in part a response to the ADP private job growth numbers of 807,000, which doubled Wall Street expectations, and the Federal Reserve speeding up the quantitative easing taper and rate hike.

With much of the Federal Reserve’s forward-looking initiatives now baked in, including the rate lift-off and faster quantitative easing tapering in 2022, Wall Street is continuing to focus on the big increases in energy and food costs and other spiraling inflation issues. While top strategists and economists are divided on when the current inflation increase will ease, the ongoing supply chain concerns and stagflation worries remain front and center.

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 Thursday, January 6, 2022.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT): Citigroup resumed coverage of the home security giant with a Buy rating and a $10.25 target price. The consensus target is $10.75. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $8.64 per share.

AdTheorent Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTH): Canaccord Genuity started coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 price target. The consensus target is higher at $18. The stock closed on Wednesday at $6.05 a share.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): BofA Securities resumed coverage of the plant-based food company with an Underperform rating. The analysts also cut the target price on the shares to $55 from $70. The consensus target is $74.21. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $58.49 a share.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): Zacks has selected this retailer as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst recommends that investors look to sell into rallies until estimates turn around. Shares have traded as high as $73.23 in the past year but last closed at $47.74.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI): JPMorgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight but kept a $200 target price. The consensus target is $200.59, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $188.46.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and boosted the price target to $50 from $40. The consensus target for the carrier is higher at $51.84. The closing trade on Wednesday was at $40.28 per share.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR): RBC Capital Markets raised its Sector Perform rating to Outperform and hiked the $104 price target to $116. The consensus target is $109.78. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $95.69.

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN): Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and lifted the price objective to $160 from $148. The shares have traded as high as $178.81 in the past year but closed most recently at $133.05.

Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM): Argus upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $27 price target. The consensus target is $26.05, and the closing share price on Wednesday was $24.76.

Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU): Bulls are looking to take their shot at current prices, says Zacks, which named this as its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares most recently closed at $14.61 apiece, in a 52-week range of $13.75 to $20.86.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): JPMorgan reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock but cut the $70 price target to $50. The analysts’ consensus target is up at $74.89. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $32.23 a share.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS): Though Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, it also cut its target price to $53 from $58. That compares with a consensus target of $54.68 and Wednesday’s closing share price of $32.84.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and has a $40 target. The consensus target is higher at $50.22. The shares closed trading at $26.27 on Wednesday.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): TD Securities upgraded the stock to Hold from Reduce and lifted the $16.50 target price to $22. The consensus target is higher at $26.46. The stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $18.29 a share.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and slashed the price target to $575 from $675. The consensus target is up at $715.68. The final trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $595.12 a share.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): Atlantic Equities started coverage with an Underweight rating and a $136 target price. The consensus target price is much higher at $376.22. The final trade on Wednesday came in at $196.71 a share.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM): UBS downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and dropped the target price on the software giant to $265 from $315. The consensus target is $327.34. The last trade on Wednesday was recorded at $227.67 per share

3M Inc. (NYSE: MMM): The RBC Capital Markets downgrade was to Underperform from Sector Perform. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $163.38 to $208.95, and it has a $184.63 consensus price objective. The stock closed most recently at $179.49 a share.

Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line and boosted the price target to $82 from $66. The consensus target is $76.45. The shares closed on Wednesday at $70.83.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Wedbush downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and sliced the price objective to $160 from $290. The consensus target is $282.04. The stock closed on Wednesday at $170.26, down over 8% for the day.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, Chevron, Cleveland-Cliffs, General Electric, Intel, Livent, Match, Medtronic, RealReal, Riot Blockchain, Sirius XM, StoneCo, Trip.com and Under Armour. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Altria, BP, Peloton, Pfizer, Pinterest, Salesforce.com, 3M and more.

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