Stocks were hit by profit-taking on Monday, but the last day of the month still did not prevent the strongest one-month gain for the Dow Jones industrial average in three decades. The S&P 500 and the Dow were indicated about 1% higher on Tuesday, as December kicks off. Investors are having to decide how they want to be positioned heading into 2021.

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 Tuesday, December 1, 2020.

BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities. Its shares closed up almost 13% at $124.24 apiece on Monday and have a $105.77 consensus target price.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was started with an Underperform rating and a $1,720 price target at Bernstein. The stock closed down 1.2% at $2,028.45 a share ahead of the call, and it has a $1,952.27 consensus target price.

Capri Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: CPRI) was named the Bull of the Day with a Strong Buy rating. The luxury retailer is said to be benefiting from a surge in online sales and growth in China.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $58 price target (versus a $48.78 prior close) at Wells Fargo.

CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Securities.

Edgewell Personal Care Co. (NYSE: EPC) is the Zacks Bear of the Day, with a Sell rating. The firm questions whether the consumer discretionary stock is on the right road to recovery.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $360 price target at Barclays. The stock closed down 0.3% at $286.58 ahead of the call, and it has a $289.08 consensus target price.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which also set a $60 price target. The stock traded at $93.43 per share ahead of the call, and it has an $84.83 consensus target price.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $80 from $65 at Needham. Shares closed down 0.2% at $64.09 on Monday, with a $66.15 consensus target price.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) was started with a Buy rating and a $25 price target at Deutsche Bank. The rare-earths materials owner of the Mountain Pass operations closed down about 0.9% at $21.52 a share ahead of the call.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE: MUSA) was started with a Sell rating at Goldman Sachs. The stock closed down 0.46% at $128.20 ahead of the call and has a $147.00 consensus target price.

Nio Ltd. (NYSE: NIO) closed down 6.4% at $50.53 on Monday, and it has a $31.85 consensus target price. Goldman Sachs raised it from Sell to Neutral with a $59 price target.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS, but the firm raised its target price to $12 from $10. Shares closed down 4.8% at $15.76 on Monday, with a $12.82 consensus target price.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was maintained as Outperform with a $300 price target (versus a $245.80 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm views the deal as being offensive and defensive at the same time.

Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $72 price target (versus a $59.85 prior close) at Wells Fargo.

Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold with a $48.50 price target at HSBC. The stock closed down 2.4% at $59.37 a share ahead of the call, and it has a $45.50 consensus target price.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS. It closed down 4.3% at $3.11 a share on Monday, and it has a $3.56 consensus analyst target.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $250 from $230 at Needham. The stock closed down 0.7% at $210.96 a share on Monday, and it has a $187.91 consensus target price.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was maintained as Neutral but its price target was raised to $730 from $40 at Rosenblatt. Shares closed up 3.2% at $901.07 ahead of the call, and they have a $691.11 consensus target price.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was started with an Outperform rating and a $35 price target at Bernstein.

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.

Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $225 price target (versus a $198.31 prior close) at Truist Securities.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was up 1.4% at $478.36 a share ahead of earnings, and it traded down 6.4% at $447.55 on Tuesday’s post-earnings reaction. Rosenblatt maintained its Neutral rating and cut the price target to $435 from $450.

Five well-known stocks from the Raymond James Analysts Current Favorites list look like very good ideas for growth investors looking to reset portfolios for the coming year.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, BP, CrowdStrike, Delta Air Lines, Moody’s, NuStar Energy, PPL, Salesforce.com, Slack Technologies and Wells Fargo.

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