Stocks have been putting in new all-time highs ahead of the China trade deal and ahead of earnings season, but a mixed bag of bank earnings and some investors taking pause were keeping futures from having much of a pop at the open on Tuesday. Many investors still have not made portfolio changes during and after a very strong market in 2019, but there is still time to get positioned for 2020. There are many market risks, concerns and headlines that may come with worry, but global growth may see a rekindled strength this year, while interest rates are expected to remain stable. This is also an election year in which much is at stake, and strategists are by and large calling for single-digit percentage gains in 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding 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 analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

Our 2020 Bull/Bear Outlook sees the Dow rising by about 7.4% to 30,650 this year, but there are outliers that could help the Dow rise by over 10% after a very strong 2019. The upside scenario puts Dow 32,000 easily within reach if only a few things go right this year.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm losing its optimism after a weaker outlook. The stock closed at $112.42 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $99.20 to $182.95 and with a consensus target price of $127.18.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was raised to $2,330 from $2,160 (versus a $1,891.30 prior close) at Merrill Lynch, which noted many growth levers for 2020 as the company is strong in the cloud with AWS and strong in e-commerce.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and with the same $350 price target (versus a $316.96 close) at Wedbush Securities, but the firm is becoming more vocal about the rerating gaining steam and that its fundamentals are supporting a potential $400 share price valuation by the end of 2020.

Aspen Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $154 target price (versus a $138.14 close) at Wedbush, with the firm pointing out that it expects its positive trends to continue.

Baker Hughes Co. (NYSE: BKR) was started with an Underperform rating and a $19.50 target price (versus a $24.41 close) at Bernstein.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this is one of those toxic retail assets. Shares last closed at $15.00 and have a consensus price target of $15.23.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg.

Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) was started with a Market Perform rating and a $38 target price (versus a $40.24 close) at Bernstein.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was down over 11.3% to $107.46 after reporting a disappointing quarter on Monday. Credit Suisse has decided to upgrade the shares to Outperform from Neutral, but the firm did keep its $125 target price as it noted that the stock is now at a relatively rare discount.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, with the firm citing valuation and a view of a copper surplus. After rising almost 5% to $13.53 on Monday, the stock had a $14.01 consensus target price and a 52-week trading range of $8.43 to $14.68.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) was last seen down almost 9% at $4.95 after announcing even more disappointing sales trends in the fourth quarter of 2019. Wedbush decided to maintain its Outperform rating and $8 target price as the firm feels GameStop is turning the page on a disappointing quarter ahead of the key Xbox and PlayStation console refreshes coming this fall.

Meet Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEET) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock is seemingly trading at a discount and its small-cap characteristic creates great upside potential. Shares most recently closed at $5.30, with a consensus price target of $6.35.

Mueller Water Products Inc. (NYSE: MWA) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE: NOMD) was reiterated as Outperform with a $26 target and slightly higher earnings estimates at Credit Suisse. Shares closed at $21.27 ahead of this call, with a $25.66 consensus target price.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was started as Underperform with a $7.50 target price (versus a $10.09 a close) at Bernstein.

PTC Inc. (NASDAQ: PTC) was maintained as Neutral with a $77 target price (versus a $77.22 close) at Wedbush, with the firm calling it out as being valued to reflect a better 2020.

Purple Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ: PRPL) was reiterated as Outperform with a $13 target price (versus a $10.70 close) at Wedbush, which noted that demand could outweigh supply through 2020. The consensus target price is $12.00.

REV Group Inc. (NYSE: REVG) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with an $11 target price (versus a $10.73 close) at Wells Fargo.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDA-A) was raised to Buy from Hold at Berenberg.

Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, and the firm raised its target overseas with an implied upside call of 24%, before taking its dividend into consideration.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was started as Underperform with a $2.90 target price (versus a $6.24 close) at Bernstein.

TTEC Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEC) was started with a Buy rating and a $48 price objective (versus a $41.44 close) at Merrill Lynch. The previous consensus target price was $56.75.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was reinstated with a Sell rating and a $9 target price (versus a $10.72 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Valaris PLC (NYSE: VLS) was started with an Underperform rating and a $2.30 target price (versus a $6.21 close) at Bernstein.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) made the announcement that it was acquiring Plaid for $5.3 billion as a value-added enhancing transaction to help with payments between banks for consumers and businesses. Visa was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $215 from $195 (versus a $193.77 close) at Wedbush.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $26 target price at Barclays. Shares closed up 1.25 at $23.78 ahead of the call, with more than a 6% dividend yield.

WPP PLC (NYSE: WPP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $181 from $157 at Goldman Sachs, but the firm also added the stock to its prized Conviction Buy List for 2020. Shares closed up almost 3% at $147.21 and had a consensus target price of $144.24 ahead of this call. Shares were indicated up 1.8% at $149.85 on Tuesday morning.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alexion, American Water Works, Apple, Charles Schwab, Crowdstrike, FedEx, IBM, Microsoft, Nvidia, Ryanair, Tesla and many more.

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