Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Albertsons, DuPont, Exxon, Home Depot, KB Home, Mastercard, Palantir, Twitter and More

Investing

Published: January 13, 2021 8:55 am

Last Updated: August 11, 2021 10:54 am

The futures traded lower on Wednesday morning as traders and investors prepare for an onslaught of fourth-quarter earnings reports, which are expected to be kicked off by some of the major money center banks on Friday. With all of the major indexes and the Russell 2000 still trading close to all-time highs, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021, as a pullback could be in the offing.

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 Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bradesco BBI. The pharmaceutical leader has traded between $62.55 and $110.78 a share over the past 52 weeks, and it has a Wall Street consensus price objective of $117.10. The stock ended Tuesday’s trading at $109.78 a share.

Acadia Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: AKR) was raised at Jefferies from Hold to Buy with a $17 price target. The posted consensus target is $16.08. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $14.67.

Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with an $18 target at BMO Capital Markets. That compares with a higher $20.82 consensus target and Tuesday’s $17.10 close.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital, which also lifted the price target to $130. The $90.86 consensus is less than Tuesday’s $97.80 closing print.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas. Shares of the beer behemoth have traded between $32.58 and $80.43 over the past 52 weeks. The consensus price objective is $76.47 a share.

Automatic Data Inc. (NYSE: ADP) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Evercore ISI, which dropped the price target to $143. The consensus target is $167.11. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $169.06 a share.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded at Baird from Outperform to Neutral with a $60 target. It has a consensus target of $57.85. Shares were last seen on Tuesday above both levels at $63.54.

Commvault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $67 target price at Keybanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is much lower at $58.14. The stock closed Tuesday at $58.40, up close to 4% on the day, and shares were higher in Wednesday’s premarket.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which pondered whether it is time to get back into the oil stocks. Shares most recently closed at $62.87, in a 52-week range of $14.55 to $92.74.