Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Facebook, Harley-Davidson, JetBlue, Lowe's, Occidental, Overstock.com, Snap, Southwest Air and More

Investing

Published: April 14, 2021 8:57 am

Last Updated: April 14, 2021 9:03 am

The futures were modestly higher on Wednesday as investors and Wall Street start to look at results from the big money center banks and brokerage firms today and tomorrow. This is the unofficial start to first-quarter earnings, which will explode in volume next week. Despite some disappointing news on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday, the S&P 500 pushed to another all-time high and the Nasdaq posted big gains as well, while the Dow Jones industrials closed down.

Top strategists across Wall Street continue to point to the broad reopening of the economy, the tailwind from the stimulus package and the continued Federal Reserve pledges to keep interest rates contained as reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets. It also should be noted that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength, while repositioning portfolios for the start of the second quarter and the rest of 2021.

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, April 14, 2021.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating, added the search giant to the firm’s Best Ideas List and has a $2,953 price target. The consensus price target is $2,354.49, and the stock closed trading Tuesday at $2254.43.

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD): Cantor Fitzgerald raised the stock from Neutral to Overweight with a $17 price target. The posted consensus target is $18.14. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $9.31 a share.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO): Oppenheimer raised it from Perform to Outperform with a $59 price target. The consensus target is $57, and the shares closed Tuesday at $47.37.

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Cousins Property Inc. (NYSE: CUZ): Baird hiked its rating from Neutral to Outperform with a $42 price target. The consensus target is $40, and the last trade Tuesday came in at $35.31.
Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is just $50.63. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $47.00.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): Wedbush downgraded the social media giant to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the price target to $340. The consensus target is $338.38, and Tuesday’s closing share price was $309.76.

Galapago N.V. (NYSE: GLPG): Barclays raised the rating to Overweight from Equal Weight. The shares have traded in a wide range of $74.51 to $233.14 over the past 52 weeks, and the consensus price objective is $93.90. The final Tuesday trade came in at $78.30 a share.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): BofA Securities started the venerable motorcycle company with a Buy rating and a $55 price target. The consensus target is down at $39.56, and the last trade for Tuesday came in at $41.00.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): JPMorgan not only upgraded it to Overweight from Underweight but also lifted the price target to $25. The consensus target is $20.86, and Tuesday’s final trade came in at $20.77.