Stocks were mixed in the premarket on Tuesday and the day was just looking for direction after last week’s all-time highs. Investors still have a lot of pressing issues and risks to consider now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider what changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

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, while some 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 sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Tuesday, November 12, 2019.

Albermarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $87 from $95 at UBS. RBC downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $71 from $77. Berenberg cut price target to $72 from $75 while maintaining its Hold rating.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was started as Buy with a $256 target price (versus a $220.70 prior close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was started with a Buy rating and a $225 target price at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AINV) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $17 target price (versus a $16.36 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reiterated as Outperform and its target was raised to $62 from $58 at Wells Fargo. Applied Materials closed up 1% at $56.59 on Monday and was indicated up 1% at $57.30 on Tuesday, with a prior consensus target price of $55.68.

Ares Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ARES) was started as Outperform with a $20 target price (versus an $18.55 close) at RBC Capital Markets. It has an 8% or so dividend as a business development company, as well as a 52-week range of $14.50 to $19.28 and a consensus target price of $19.46.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was started with a Buy rating and a $110 target price (versus a $75.33 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was started with a Buy rating and a $337 target price (with a $294.14 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CBMG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $19 target price (versus a $17.67 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was started as Neutral with a $123 target price (versus a $115.87 close) at Goldman Sachs. The prior consensus target price was $119.25, and the 52-week trading range is $98.57 to $132.76.

CONMED Corp. (NASDAQ: CNMD) was started as Overweight with a $136 target price (versus a $109.99 close) at JPMorgan.

CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $65 target price at Oppenheimer.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was raised to Neutral from Sell but the target price was lowered to $55 from $66 (versus a $46.20 close) at Goldman Sachs. Its prior consensus target price was $83.89, and its post-IPO range has been $44.58 to $101.88.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was lowered to $74 from $82 at Deutsche Bank.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $33 from $31 (versus a $22.53 close) at Wells Fargo.

DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC) was maintained as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, but the firm’s target price was slashed to $43 from $67. Wells Fargo maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target to $30 from $32, and Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Neutral rating and lowered its target to $28 from $42. Shares closed down 2.2% at $29.40 on Monday and were trading up over 4% at $30.60 in Tuesday’s early trading indications after earnings.

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $96 target price (versus a $91.88 close) at HSBC.

EnPro Industries Inc. (NYSE: NPO) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that a recent miss sent estimates down for this year as well as for next year. Shares last closed at $66.93, with a consensus price target of $80.00.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was raised to Hold from Sell with a $27 target price (versus a $26.61 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Oceaneering International Inc. (NYSE: OII) was started as Buy and a $17 price objective (versus a $14.01 close) at Merrill Lynch.

OpenText Corp. (NASDAQ: OTEX) was up 2.3% at $42.52 after announcing it was acquiring Carbonite. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $50 from $47.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $28 target price (versus a $22.43 close) at Stifel.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was started as Hold with a $360 target price at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $28 from $38 at MKM Partners. The prior consensus target price was $32.30.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with an $8 target price (versus a $9.33 close) at JPMorgan.

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UCTT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this is one of the stocks that was hitting new highs all last week. Shares most recently closed at $22.80, with a consensus price target of $21.70.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was reiterated as Neutral but the target price was raised to $33 from $20 at
Wedbush Securities.

Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) was started with a Buy rating and a $58 target price at Goldman Sachs. The stock was up 0.3% at $47.78 ahead of the call, and it had a consensus target price of $68.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was started with a Buy rating and a $235 target price at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and its target price was raised to $38 from $31 (versus a $38.36 close) at JPMorgan.

JPMorgan started coverage of many insurance sector stocks on Tuesday:

• Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC): Buy with a $118 target price (versus a $103.41 prior close)
• Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL): Buy with a $120 price target (versus a $109.38 close)
• AON PLC (NYSE: AON): Neutral with a $219 target (versus a $194.38 close)
• Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB): Neutral with a $159 target (versus a $151.32 close)
• Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV): Neutral with a $140 target (versus a $133.54 close)
• Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): Neutral with a $79 target (versus a $73.73 close)

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Baidu, BellRing, Chegg, Chewy, Cisco Systems, Expedia, Home Depot, Nvidia, Occidental Petroleum, Qualcomm, Tesla and many more.

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