Last week’s worst one-day sell-off was followed by three straight days of rallies, and the losses have been effectively wiped out. Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Tuesday as the yield curve isn’t really inverted and longer-maturity interest rates have risen. And to keep things in context, the major U.S. equity indexes had hit all-time highs late in July and the bull market is still well over 10 years old. Investors need to be giving strong considerations to how they want their portfolios and assets positioned as the end 2019 and the start of 2020 get closer.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some 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 are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Tuesday, August 20, 2019.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was up 3.3% at $66.56 on Monday and was indicated up another 1.5% at $67.55 on Tuesday. Piper Jaffray raised it to Overweight from Neutral and set the target price at $80. The consensus target price is $85.25.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was indicated up over 7% at $155.20 on Tuesday as JPMorgan raised its rating to Overweight from Neutral, reversing a downgraded from just two months earlier. The firm also raised its target price to $189 from $188. The consensus target price is $165.29, and the post-IPO trading range is $45.00 to $239.71.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: BIO) was already rated as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm added it to the prized Conviction Buy list, with a $400 target price (versus a $330.95 prior close). The stock has a $385 consensus target price.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, with its relative underperformance being the key for the move.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was maintained as Buy and the price target was lowered to $65 from $85 at Citigroup. Shares were up 1.3% at $49.05 on Monday, and the consensus target price had been $68.65.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $231 from $197 (versus a $201.65 close) at Citigroup. Shares closed up 12.5% on Monday and were indicated up marginally on Tuesday. Wells Fargo maintained a Market Perform rating on Estee Lauder but raised its target price to $190 from $175.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. The stock closed up 0.7% at $21.90 on Monday, and its consensus target price was $23.00.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was cut to $21 from $25 (versus a $19.21 close) at Citigroup, with the firm noting that its PC segment will see more weakness in the printing segment outweighing near-term pull-forward gains from the PC sales. The stock was indicated down 1.6% at $18.90 on Tuesday, and its consensus target price was $23.08 ahead of the call.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy with a $75 target price (versus a $70.02 close) at Raymond James.

Jumia Technologies A.G. (NYSE: JMIA) was up almost 18% to $15.41 on Monday and was indicated up another 3.8% on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised its rating to Equal Weight from Underweight.

Las Vegas Sands Inc. (NYSE: LVS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

McCormick & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MKC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the target price was cut to $150 from $154 (versus a $168.56 close) at JPMorgan. The shares were indicated down 2.7% at $164.00 on Tuesday, and the prior consensus target price was $152.11.

Nabriva Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: NBRV) had been down 3% at $2.21 on Monday, but news of an FDA approval for new antibiotics targeting bacterial pneumonia had its shares indicated up 23% at $2.73 on Tuesday. Wedbush Securities reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target price to $7 from $5.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was hammered on Monday with a drop of 25% to $10.67 after an adverse ruling about the Tubbs fire of 2017 and after Citigroup downgraded the stock to Sell from Buy with a new $4 target price. On Tuesday, UBS maintained its Neutral rating but cut its target price to $13 from $24.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Outperform with a $184 price target (versus a $143.67 close) at Wedbush. The call is supporting a more positive view on its Tableau acquisition.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT) was maintained as Buy at Janney, but the firm lowered its target price to $175 from $200 (versus a $120.31 close) on news that the FDA issued a Complete Response letter for golodirsen and the firm has delayed its launch expectations out to 2022 as a result. Robert W. Baird maintained the stock as Outperform but cut its target to $181 from $202, and Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but cut its target to $201 from $207. Shares were indicated down 17% to $99.75 after closing at $120.31, with an $8.95 billion market cap, and its prior consensus target price was $209.67 ahead of this development.

Silk Road Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: SILK) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $52 target price (versus a $40.74 close) at Argus.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was maintained as Outperform at Wedbush, but the firm lowered its target to $158 from $163 (versus a $125.56 close) on word that checkpoints maintained a strong profile but the longer-term risks continue to act as a future overhang.

Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was started as Overweight and assigned a $19 target price at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It closed up 2.5% at $15.77 on Monday and was indicated up 3% at $16.25 on Tuesday. Its consensus target price was $22.40 ahead of this call.

Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR) was up almost 4% at $8.29 on Monday and was indicated up 2.5% at $8.50 on Tuesday. KeyBanc Capital Markets started it with an Overweight rating and assigned a $12.00 target price. The consensus target price was $11.50 ahead of this call, and the 52-week trading range is $3.55 to $9.82.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

Merrill Lynch has issued a report predicting which internet sector leaders will do the best and worst in the next recession, but the “best” may still be atrocious if the growth rates are bitten into in the worst-case scenario.

The RBC Capital Markets team of analysts covering the internet sector are very positive on four large-cap stocks for the rest of the year, and two may be a big surprise for technology investors.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said strong growth and bullish analyst sentiment is pushing shares of this software stock higher. The Zacks Bear of the Day is Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR). The firm said that this legacy retailer is seeing some growth troubles.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Amgen, Aramark, Chevron, Deere, Exxon Mobile, Hecla Mining, Occidental Petroleum, Urban Outfitters, Whiting Petroleum and many more.

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