The futures traded higher Thursday morning as analysts and traders digested a huge wave of third-quarter earnings reports. With the political volatility at home and geopolitical volatility abroad, it probably makes sense to play it safe now. Investors need to be considering exactly how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the rest 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 are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Thursday, October 24, 2019.

Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $2.27 to $21.63. The consensus price target is $8.63, and the stock closed Wednesday at $2.70.

Audioeye Inc. (NASDAQ: AEYE) was resumed in coverage with a Buy rating and an $11 price target at National Securities. The consensus target is $11.13. The shares ended Wednesday at $3.11

Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE: AVY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, which actually raised its price target to $136. The consensus target is $123.44, and the stock closed Wednesday at $126.14.

BankUnited Inc. (NYSE: BKU) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, and the firm raised the price target on the shares to $37. The consensus target is $36.71, and the stock was last seen trading at $34.48.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) saw its target price raised to $150 at Credit Suisse, though the firm maintained an Outperform rating. RBC Capital lowered its price target to $142 from $146 and has a Sector Perform rating, while UBS lowered its price target to $111 and has a Sell rating on the heavy equipment giant. The company missed both earnings and revenue expectations, and shares closed Wednesday at $135.34.

CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which dropped the price target on the stock to $39. The consensus price target is set at $46.23, and shares closed Wednesday at $47.44.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the nation’s second-largest retailer rakes in profits in all economic conditions. Shares most recently closed at $297.32, with a consensus price target of $300.87.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. The stock has traded between $26.01 and $42 over the past 52 weeks. The consensus price target is $41.94. The shares closed Wednesday at $39.20.

8X8 Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) was raised to Neutral from Sell at B. Riley FBR, which set an $18.50 price target. That compares to the Wall Street consensus target of $26.46. The stock closed Wednesday’s trading at $19.04.

FirstCash Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $86, down almost 10% on inline earnings.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that low energy prices hinder First Solar’s plans to be price competitive. Shares last closed at $55.28, with a consensus price target of $76.64.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank, which lowered the price target on the auto giant to $11. That is just above the consensus target of $10.45. The last trade on Wednesday was posted at $9.21. Shares were down almost 4% in premarket action.

iRobot Inc. (NASDAQ: IRBT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target dropped to $50 at Merrill Lynch. That compares to the consensus price target of $65. The stock closed Wednesday at $49.06, down almost 10% on lower full-year guidance. The stock was also lower in the premarket.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) was started with an In-Line rating and a $67 price target at Evercore ISI. The consensus target for the cereal giant is set at $63. The last trade on Wednesday was $62.21 a share.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with an Equal Weight rating and a $50 price target at Morgan Stanley. That compares to the much higher consensus of $70.41. The shares closed Wednesday at $43.08.

MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, which raised the price target to $73. That compares to a lower consensus target of $70.69. The shares closed Wednesday at $67.68.

Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was resumed in coverage at Piper Jaffray with an Overweight rating and a $158 price target. The consensus target is $157.39. The stock closed Wednesday at $137.24 and traded higher in the premarket after reporting solid results yesterday.

Nephros Inc. (NASDAQ: NEPH) was started with a Speculative Buy rating and a target of $16 at Benchmark. That compares to a consensus target of $13. The stock closed Wednesday at $9.61.

Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen, where the analysts have a $76 price target. The consensus target is $75. The stock was last seen trading on Wednesday at $77.93, and shares are down slightly in the premarket.

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, which also raised the price target to $101. That compares to a much lower consensus target of $83.44. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $79.79.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Biogen, Coca-Cola, Crowdstrike, Kohl’s, ServiceNow, Snap, Travelers and many more.

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