Stocks were trying to open higher after a big stock market flush on Wednesday took out other recent lows. Some investors may still be bullish long term, but they also have to keep in mind that they have seen lower upside from buying immediately after the big market pullbacks in 2018 than in prior years. The investors need to consider how they want to position their investments for the rest of the year and into 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, October 25, 2018.

Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $4.60 price objective for its American depositary shares at Merrill Lynch. The stock was down 5.6% on Wednesday.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) closed down 8% at $30.36 on Wednesday, but independent research firm Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating and $48 price target on the stock.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was reiterated as Buy with an official target price of $395 at Argus, but the firm noted that its dividend discount model would yield a $420 fair value target. Despite Wednesday’s major sell-off, Boeing closed up 1.3% at $354.65.

Hibbett Sports Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive and that target was cut to $15 from $25 (versus a $16.85 prior close) at Susquehanna.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform but the target was lowered to $74 from $87 at Wells Fargo. Separately, B. Riley raised Hilton to Buy from Hold but lowered its target to $85 from $91.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was lowered to $132 from $170 at Seaport Global.

Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE: IR) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $112 target price at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI Group.

Laboratory Corp. of America (NYSE: LH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target price was lowered to $162 from $195 at Canaccord Genuity. Shares closed down almost 8% at $155.30 ahead of this call.

Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $100 from $98 at JPMorgan.

Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI Group.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) managed to beat earnings yet again. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating and $140 price target.

NextEra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: NEP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $47 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The firm’s downgrade is after the latest rally and given updates to the portfolio to moderate long-term distributable cash flow value and 2019 guidance.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $189 price target at Stifel. TD Securities also raised it to Buy from Hold.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight but the price target was lowered to $58 from $62 at Barclays. This valuation call was after the shares closed down 9.6% at $42.95.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was lowered to $10 from $12 at Goldman Sachs.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI Group.

Ryder System Inc. (NYSE: R) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $78 target price at Loop Capital.

STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE: STM) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Robert W. Baird, a day after it fell 13.8% to $13.69.

Switch Inc. (NYSE: SWCH) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform, but its target price was lowered to $11.50 from $13.50 at Wells Fargo. The stock closed up 1.7% at $8.99 on Wednesday and was indicated up 3.5% at $9.30 on Thursday.

Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER) was raised to Buy from Hold at Craig-Hallum, a day after its shares fell 6.1% to $30.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was reiterated as Buy with a $265 price target at Argus.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $116 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The firm cited UPS’s margin pressures continuing to accelerate with International operations seeing added pressure.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $28 price target (versus a $21.92 close) at Jefferies.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Centene, Comcast, Concho Resources, PACCAR, STMicroelectronics, Tesla, United Natural Food and VF and many more.

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