Investing

Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Tower, Best Buy, Beyond Meat, Freeport McMoRan, First Solar, UnitedHealth and More

Chris Lange

Published: September 10, 2021 9:06 am

Last Updated: September 17, 2021 10:30 am

Friday morning’s futures saw a massive jump, bunking the negative trend and four-day losing streak we saw this week. What kicked off this losing streak was a fairly negative August employment report from last Friday that saw a massive miss.

While many expected the report to be a fairly positive one, it still reflected the surge in coronavirus cases that we saw across the United States over the past month. It goes without saying that the Federal Reserve also will be monitoring these numbers, per its dual mandate, and the report could influence the Fed’s monetary policy to come later this year. For now, the labor market appears to be improving and the Fed policy is favorable.

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 any market strength while repositioning portfolios for the balance 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 Friday, September 10, 2021.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to a Perform rating from Outperform. Shares last closed at $296.82. The consensus price target is $305.00.

Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM): Cowen initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $465 price target. Shares closed most recently at $371.43, and they have traded as high as $406.00 in the past year.

Appellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: APLS): The Wedbush downgrade to Neutral from Outperform included a price target cut to $39 from $71. The stock closed most recently at $55.61 a share and has a consensus price target of $81.81.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY): Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst says that strong earnings bring value investors into Best Buy. Shares last closed at $112.39, and the consensus price target is $130.12.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): Cowen started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $124 price target. The $118.31 consensus target is just above Thursday’s close at $114.13.

CareMax Inc. (NASDAQ: CMAX): Cowen initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $14 price target. Shares last closed at $8.48, and the consensus price target is $14.00.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI): BofA Securities lowered its Buy rating to Underperform and cut the price target to $225 from $240. Also, Cowen initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $235 price target. The shares most recently closed at $213.95 and have a consensus price target of $265.48.

Clover Health Investments Corp. (NASDAQ: CLOV): Cowen started it with an Underperform rating and a $7 price target. Shares closed at $9.31, and the consensus price target is $9.50.

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Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT): Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to Outperform from Perform and raised the price target to $80 from $42. Shares most recently closed at $64.45, and they have a consensus price target of $53.92.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Oppenheimer’s downgrade was to Perform from Outperform. Shares last closed at $854.56, and the consensus target price is $895.58.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Credit Suisse downgraded it to Underperform from Neutral and has a $29 price target. The shares closed at $34.81, and the consensus price target is $44.56.

Freshpet Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT): Cowen initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $229 price target. Shares closed most recently at $131.53 and have a consensus price target of $175.83.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): Needham started coverage with a Hold rating. Shares closed at $98.89, and the consensus price target is $98.05.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and an $18 price target. Shares closed most recently at $15.78 apiece, and they have a consensus price target all the way up at $31.10.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI): This is the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The analyst points out that this stock is still not a bargain, even after the big drop. Shares closed most recently at $73.21 apiece and have a consensus price target of $84.93.

Sumo Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMO): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares from Overweight to Neutral and cut the price target to $20 from $24. BTIG Research lowered its Buy rating to Neutral. The shares have a 52-week range of $15.80 to $46.37, and Thursday’s close was at $20.12 a share.

Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $75 price target. That compares with a $76.72 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $44.61.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH): Cowen started it at Market Perform with a $169 price target. Shares last closed at $414.55, and the consensus price target is $461.86.

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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Baker Hughes, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Cisco Systems, Haliburton, Macy’s, Schlumberger and Sherwin-Williams. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on eBay, Lucid, Lululemon Athletica and SoFi.