Stocks sold off hard on Tuesday as profit-taking was seen in the leadership stocks. Wednesday’s indications were up slightly, but with no clear direction as futures were down slightly earlier in the morning. With an election coming up, and with what is still a very deep recession, investors should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the second half of 2020.

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

Remember, no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision. Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst calls we have seen on Wednesday, July 8, 2020.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $400 at Deutsche Bank, after a similar $400 target was raised at Raymond James on Tuesday. Apple was indicated up 0.8% at $375.80 on Wednesday, and its prior consensus target price was $347.38.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was started as Neutral at Seaport Global.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was started as Buy with a $51 price target at Seaport Global.

BioTelemetry Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAT) was reiterated as Buy and with a $58 price target at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $135 price objective at BofA Securities. Shares closed down 1.7% at $127.20 on Tuesday, with a $130.35 consensus target price.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was started as Buy with a $65 price target at Seaport Global. Shares closed down 3.1% at $50.32 on Tuesday, with a $66.61 consensus target price.

Endo International PLC (NASDAQ: ENDP) shares surged to as high as $4.18 but only closed up one cent at $3.62 on Tuesday on news of an FDA approval for its cellulite treatment. SunTrust reiterated its Buy rating with a $5 target price.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was started as Buy with a $261 price target at Seaport Global, and Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $265 from $245. Goldman Sachs closed down almost 4% at $199.36 on Tuesday, with a $228.22 consensus target price.

HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho. Shares closed at $235.26 ahead of the call and were indicated down over 2% at $230.00 on Wednesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was started as Buy with a $119 price target at Seaport Global. Its shares closed down almost 3% at $92.32 on Tuesday, with a $110.04 consensus target price.

Livongo Health Inc. (NASDAQ: LVGO) was up almost 21% at $93.76 on Tuesday. RBC Capital Markets reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $120 from $53, while Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target from $70 to $120.

Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE: MHK) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $119 from $115 (versus a $103.26 prior close) at SunTrust.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was started as Buy with a $61 price target at Seaport Global.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $45 target price (versus a $40.23 close, after a 17.7% drop) at JPMorgan. This upgrade is because Nikola shares have fallen more than 50% from their peak and after JPMorgan had said it would be more favorable if the shares dropped. The stock was indicated up 9% at $43.96 on Wednesday morning.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. It closed down 6% at $4.31 on Tuesday, with a $4.74 consensus target price.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but the price target was raised to $105 from $50 (versus a $104.56 close) at Ladenburg Thalmann. The stock was up over 30% on Tuesday on news of massive funding for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was started as Buy with an $83 price target at Seaport Global.

Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that vacationing overseas during the pandemic is not an option for many, so Americans are buying campers and exploring the United States. Shares most recently closed at $100.95 and have a consensus price target of $111.25.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $1.98 on Tuesday, with a 52-week range of $0.76 to $7.28 and a consensus target price of $2.78.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $16 from $12 at Barclays.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE: VSTO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley FBR.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was maintained at $146 at BofA Securities.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was started as Neutral at Seaport Global.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $92 from $73 at Citigroup.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that investors should avoid stocks that are underperforming in this environment. Shares last closed at $23.21 and have a consensus price target of $24.59.

Jefferies has five semiconductor stocks that will win big ahead as cars continue to go ever more high-tech and need more and more chips.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ambarella, Annaly Capital Management, Cinedigm, Fortinet, Kinder Morgan, 3M, Nikola, Nvidia, Tesla, Uber Technologies, YETI and more.

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