The futures traded lower Monday morning as investors and traders returned from the long Fourth of July holiday weekend. With a very positive employment report on Friday, and second-quarter earnings ready to start hitting the tape hot and heavy next week, we could be in for a very busy week. Investors need to be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the second half of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics come from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, July 8, 2019.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was resumed in coverage with a Buy rating and a $142 price objective at Deutsche Bank. The Wall Street consensus target for the financial services behemoth is $125.27. The shares closed Friday at $125.40.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated with an Outperform rating at Wedbush, which also has a $235 price target. The analysts there note that Asia checks give confidence in iPhone demand despite some noise. However, Rosenblatt downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell on what it calls “fundamental deterioration” and it has a $150 price target. The consensus target is $212.03. The stock was last seen trading at $204.23.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson, which also lowered the price target on the semiconductor capital equipment giant to $45. That compares to the consensus price target of $51.33. The stock closed Friday at $43.98.

BNY Mellon Inc. (NYSE: BK) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. The 52-week trading range for the shares is $42.13 to $55.70, and the consensus price target is $90.03. Friday’s closing price was $44.53. The shares were lower in Monday’s premarket.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was started with a Buy rating at Guggenheim, and the analysts posted an $80 price target for the retail giant. The consensus target is $76.54. The shares were last seen trading at $71.89.

Cabot Microelectronics Corp. (NASDAQ: CCMP) was started with a Buy rating and a $148 price target at Goldman Sachs. That compares to the much lower consensus target of $135.25. The shares closed Friday at $110.03.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which also raised its price target to $28. The consensus target is $28.30, and shares closed Friday at $23.64.

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) had a red-hot IPO recently, and the quiet period has lifted for the cybersecurity stock. Needham started it with a Buy rating and an $80 price target. The analysts note that CrowdStrike is one of the premier native cloud security platforms, a cornerstone of a Cloud Federated Security model and also a cornerstone of a Zero Trust Security architecture. Merrill Lynch also started the shares with a Buy rating and a $75 price objective. In addition, Stifel, Barclays and Mizhou all have Buy ratings with an $80 target. The shares closed trading Friday at $67.21 but were higher in the premarket.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was lowered to $120 at Goldman Sachs. The consensus price target is a whopping $170.03. The stock ended trading last Friday at $147.66.

Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR) was another recent hot IPO, and Needham started it with a Buy rating and a $31 price objective. The analyst notes that the company is one of the leading freelance marketplaces, as it combines an attractive secular narrative around the gig economy labor mix shift. Shares closed on Friday at $27.25.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: BANC) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $14 price target at BMO Capital Markets. That compares to the consensus target of $14.85. The stock closed Friday at $13.92.

Jagged Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: JAG) was started with an Overweight rating at Nomura. The accompanying $11 price target compares with the consensus target of $12.82. The stock was last seen trading at $8.82.

Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE: JCI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell and the price target raised to $35 at JPMorgan. The consensus target is higher at $40.71. The shares closed Friday at $41.87 and traded higher in the premarket.

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $231 price objective at JPMorgan. The consensus target is $250.36. The shares ended Friday at $288.05.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was downgraded to a Sell rating from Neutral at Citigroup, which also lowered its price target to $55. The consensus target is $71.25. The stock ended Friday at $62.41, but it was down over 4% in premarket trading.

Orion Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ORN) is raised to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $5 at B. Riley FBR. The consensus target is slightly higher at $5.55. The stock ended Friday at $3.10, but shares were up almost 5% in premarket action.

Replimune Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REPL) was started with a Buy rating and a $26 price target at H.C. Wainwright. That compares with a consensus target of $26.75. The stock was last seen trading at $13.68.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $62 price target at Citigroup. The consensus price target is $59.72. The stock closed Friday at $58.31.

Zacks has named its Bull of the Day, Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD), noting that gold is at six-year highs and this is one way to play the rally. Its Bear of the Day is Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), which has faced a rough 2019 — as have most fertilizer makers — thanks in part to Mother Nature.

With the Independence Day holiday falling on Thursday, Wall Street was a ghost town on Friday, but in case you missed it, check out the top analysts calls from last Wednesday. They included Barrick Gold, CannTrust, Inogen, L3Harris, Merck, Petrobras, Starbucks, Symantec, Tesla, Foot Locker and more.

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