Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Tuesday, but investors need to keep in mind that the major equity indexes are at or just under all-time highs. Investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off, and many of those same investors are looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on some of these daily analyst calls. The consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, September 19, 2017.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen several analysts opine about the iPhone 8 launch and the implications, but Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $194 from $182 (versus a $158.67 prior close). The firm feels the weaker dollar will allow it to raise prices overseas without any penalty or impact, and that will drive up earnings. Apple has a 52-week trading range of $104.08 to $164.94, and it had a consensus analyst target price of $172.35.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was started with an In-Line rating and assigned a $5 price target at Imperial Capital. The shares closed at $4.05 on Monday, so this “in-line” call with an implied upside of more than 20% is actually above the current average analyst Buy/Outperform rating. That being said, Chesapeake shares have a consensus target price of $4.81 and a 52-week range of $3.55 to $8.20.

DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $81 price target at Argus. This is after the Dow and DuPont merger. Its shares closed at $69.77 on Monday, and the consensus target price for the newly combined company is listed as $77.89.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) has already seen its share of analyst downgrades and price targets being slashed in the aftermath of how it handled its massive data breach. RBC Capital Markets is maintaining an Outperform rating, but the firm lowered its target price to $113 from $154. Equifax closed up 1.5% at $94.38 on Monday and was indicated down 1.8% at $92.56 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $89.59 to $147.02, and the consensus target price is $128.00.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $30 price target (versus a $27.90 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm’s proprietary analysis highlights attractive real estate positioning. Back on September 12, Gap shares were reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $39 from $35 (versus a $25.94 close ahead of that call) at Jefferies.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $49 from $60. The firm noted that sales data indicates Nike is losing to Adidas at in North America and in Europe and in online sales. Its cautious stance came with expectations of downward consensus revisions and the dreaded “multiple compression.” Nike was also downgraded to Neutral from Positive with a $54 price target at Susquehanna.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was started with an Underperform rating and assigned a $280 price target at Jefferies. That target that is more than $100 under the current share price of about $385. The firm noted that the coverage comes with a heavy heart as its achievements to-date and vision are impressive, but the firm does not believe that Tesla’s vertically integrated business model can be scaled up as profitably and quickly as the consensus thinks and valuation multiples imply.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. Its shares were down 2.4% at $17.37 on Monday and were indicated down another 2.9% or so at 16.90 on Tuesday. Under Armour has a 52-week range of $15.92 to $40.14, and it had a $19.81 consensus target price.

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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

Cimarex Energy (NYSE: XEC) was started as Outperform and assigned a $135 price target (versus a $107.25 close) at Imperial Capital.

Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) was started as Market Perform at Raymond James. At $8.90, it has a 52-week range of $8.06 to $11.97. The consensus target price was $9.75.

Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) was reiterated as Buy with a $56 price target (versus a $37.36 close) at Argus.

Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $39 price target (versus $31.81 close) at Goldman Sachs. This REIT focuses on Class-A properties focused on technology, media and entertainment tenants in Northern and Southern California and the Pacific Northwest.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $78 price target (versus a $76.50 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLCO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $29 price target (versus a $23.01 close) at Instinet.

MyoKardia Inc. (NASDAQ: MYOK) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $55 from $45 at Credit Suisse.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $45 price target (versus a $40.63 close) at UBS.

Orbital ATK Inc. (NYSE: OA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus after the Northrup Grumman acquisition was announced.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was reiterated as Buy at Merrill Lynch, which raised its price objective to $100 from $98. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $104 from $103. Shares closed at $93.15 on Monday.

Shire PLC (NASDAQ: SHPG) was reiterated as Buy at Merrill Lynch on Tuesday, with the firm’s overseas price target representing about 50% upside. The firm called Shire acutely undervalued, and the sum of the parts analysis even suggests a negative value is implied for hemophilia while a spin-off of its neuroscience unit could create value. It closed at $155.66 on Monday and has a consensus target price of about $226.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, noting that current earnings look solid but with a focus shifting to an earnings plateau in 2019.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SUPN) saw its shares decline more than 5% after a drug study change recommendation on a treatment for childhood aggression. Supernus was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, but Jefferies maintained its Buy rating.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, but that is ahead of its AT&T merger and close to its buyout price.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) was reinstated as Neutral at Merrill Lynch, and the $68 price objective compares to a $67.29 closing price from the prior day.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) shares had pulled back slightly into and during the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy as it has owned a 33% stake from a 2005 leveraged buyout with Bain and KKR. Merrill Lynch noted that the Chapter 11 filing was expected and that Vornado already has written down its investment to zero, and the firm assigned no value for this in the Vornado earnings model or net asset value.

RBC Capital Markets started the pharmacy and distribution companies. Some companies were started as Sector Perform, but the companies given new Outperform ratings included Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX), CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) and Walgreen Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA), while Cerner Corp. (CERN) was named as Outperform and assigned the Top Pick ranking.

Monday’s top analyst calls included ASML, General Electric, HubSpot, Infosys, Teva Pharmaceutical, United Continental and many more.

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