Stocks closed lower on Tuesday after inflation remains under the Federal Reserve’s new target and as stimulus hopes are waning. The major indexes were up by about 0.1% in early trading on Wednesday. Many investors missed out on the recovery from late in March, but many key leadership stocks have pulled back from their highs to more attractive entry points.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, October 14, 2020.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $136 from $130 at Morgan Stanley. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and $150 price target. Apple closed down 2.6% at $121.10 a share, with a $120.08 consensus price target, after formally unveiling the iPhone 12 with 5G capabilities.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform and its target price was raised to $1,565 from $1,500 (versus a $1,164.59 prior close) at Raymond James.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $26 from $22.00 (versus a $22.15 close) at Raymond James.

BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX) was reiterated as Market Perform but its price target was raised to $69 from $62 (versus a $93.00 close) at SVB Leerink. It had an $80.38 consensus target price.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS.

Compass Pathways PLC (NASDAQ: CMPS) was started with a Buy rating and a $65 target price (versus a $38.82 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Atlantic Equities.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was started with a Buy rating and a $290 target price (versus a $238.21 close) at UBS.

Ferrari N.V. (NYSE: RACE) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $212 from $209 (versus a $184.19 close) at UBS.

Heat Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBX) was started with a Buy rating and a $4 target price (versus a $1.31 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $67 from $64 at UBS. On the other hand, Wedbush maintained its Underperform rating and has a $51 price target.

Invitae Corp. (NYSE: NVTA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was started with a Buy rating and a $243 target price (versus a $222.86 close) at UBS. Microsoft had a $230.34 consensus price target ahead of the call.

Nautilus Inc. (NYSE: NLS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $28 from $18 (versus a $21.43 close) at Truist Securities.

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) was started with an Overweight rating and a $55 price target (versus a $43.35 close) at Morgan Stanley. The stock had a $46.67 consensus target price ahead of the call.

Nio Ltd. (NYSE: NIO) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and it was given a $40 price target (versus a $21.62 close) at JPMorgan. The stock was indicated up 9.5% at $23.65 on Wednesday, and it had a $17.11 prior consensus target price.

Oracle Inc. (NYSE: ORCL) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $144 from $115 (versus a $130.97 close) at Truist.

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE: RHP) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it might be too soon to buy hotel REITs. Shares last closed at $40.82 and have a consensus price target of $40.00.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was started with a Buy rating and a $325 target price (versus a $266.83 close) at UBS. It had a $273.23 consensus target price.

Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ: SGMS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $45 from $30 (versus a $34.25 close) at Truist.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started with a Buy rating and a $600 price target at UBS. Shares closed up 1.8% at $518.30 ahead of the call, and the previous consensus target price was $482.41.

Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BBVA.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was downgraded to Sell from Buy and its price target was cut to $165 from $242 (versus a $215.83 close) at UBS.

Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA) was reiterated as Market Outperform but its price target was raised to $55 from $43 (versus a $28.44 close) at JMP Securities. It had a $32.73 consensus target price ahead of the call.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV) was started with a Sell rating and a $225 target price (versus a $308.55 close) at UBS. The shares had a $303.75 consensus target price.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that home remains hot and this retailer just raised its dividend 10%. Shares most recently closed at $105.76 but have a consensus price target of just $94.19.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS.

Five large-cap health care stocks are favored among the top fund managers.

Six unpopular but well-known turnaround stocks are scoring big analyst upgrades ahead of earnings.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Airlines, Beyond Meat, Cimarex, Cloudflare, CSX, Exxon, Micron, NetApp and Unity Software.

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