Stocks were hammered on Friday as global growth concerns continued to weigh on the markets, and Monday morning equity futures indexes tried to tick up but just dribbled lower ahead of the opening bell. Investors have seen less upside from buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years, and the daily volatility has started to rattle even the strongest bulls over the most recent weeks. Now is the time that investors have to consider how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, December 17, 2018.

Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: AXON) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $3 price target (versus a $1.01 prior close) at Jefferies. It has a 52-week trading range of $0.93 to $6.59, and this call is after the firm raised $30 million in a secondary offering.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price objective was cut to $50 from $70 (versus a $55.37 close) at Merrill Lynch. Best Buy has a 52-week range of $55.06 to $84.37, and it had a consensus target price of $73.79.

Calyxt Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT) was raised to Buy from Neutral with an $18 price target at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week range is $9.25 to $27.23, and the consensus target price of $25.21.

Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. It has a 52-week range of $92.16 to $129.47 and a consensus target price of $127.33.

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $86 price target (versus a $93.12 close) in a valuation downgrade at Janney.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $71 from $85 (versus a $60.44 close) at Barclays. It has a 52-week range of $59.96 to $79.70 and a consensus target price of $79.05.

Genpact Ltd. (NYSE: G) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $26.46 to $34.79, and the consensus analyst target price is $33.33.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIII) was raised to Buy from Hold with a$40 price target at Stifel. The 52-week range is $28.50 to $51.20, and the consensus target price of $47.60.

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDRA) was reiterated as Outperform with a $13 price target (versus a $3.98 close) at Wedbush Securities. The call is after positive Phase 2 study data in its target of refractory melanoma. It has a 52-week range of $3.89 to $20.40. It has a consensus target price of $18.33.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $125 price target (versus a $131.04 close) at Deutsche Bank. The 52-week range is $119.38 to $179.07, and the consensus target price of $137.22.