Stocks have been mixed this week ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, with an expected hike all but assured. And stocks were looking mixed on Wednesday as well. Now that the bull market is over nine years old, investors have to be wondering how they want to be positioned for the rest of 2018 and beyond. So far, investors have been rewarded for buying all the big pullbacks for more than five years.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of the analyst and research reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reinstated as Buy with an $80 price objective (versus a $59.23 prior close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees 35% upside now, with its secular chip demand growth migrating into a less cyclical industry.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) was reiterated as Buy with a $75 price target (versus a $66.43 close) at Argus. The independent research firm noted that its immuno-oncology drug Opdivo has moved closer to approval as a first-line combination treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer.

Catelent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. The stock closed at $40.52 and has a 52-week trading range of $27.48 to $47.87.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $110 price target (versus an $88.27 close) at JPMorgan. Celgene has a 52-week range of $86.55 to $147.17, and it has a consensus analyst target price of $118.72.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was down almost 8% at $127.95 on Tuesday after earnings and sales data. Citigroup has now raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $148 price target. Children’s Place has a 52-week range of $94.95 to $161.65.

DCP Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DCP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $42 price objective (versus a $33.47 close) at Merrill Lynch.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $295 price target (versus a $251.99 close) at Stifel. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $306 from $314 around a messy quarter despite positive developments.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) was started as Neutral at Instinet. The stock closed at $21.10 per American depositary share on Tuesday.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $20 price objective (versus a $15.61 close) at Merrill Lynch. This is after it and other MLP and MLP-type of companies slid handily after an adverse FERC tax ruling.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was reinstated as Buy with a $140 price objective (versus a $117.19 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees a highly profitable defensive position and an underappreciated enabler of new technologies looking less cyclical than peers with best-in-class returns.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was reinstated as Buy with a $305 price objective (versus a $219.13 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees roughly 35% upside and is said to have a street-high target among major brokerage firms.

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) was reiterated as Hold but the price target was raised to $218 from $206 (versus a $209.61 close) at Stifel.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. Match closed up 2.17% at $46.64 on Tuesday but was indicated down 2.2% at $45.60 on Wednesday. It has a 52-week range of $15.42 to $46.95 and a consensus target price of $41.53.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to receive the daily analyst calls and other market research calls directly on your feed.