Stocks were indicated lower on Wednesday, by 0.4% for the S&P 500 and by 0.5% for the Dow Jones industrials. Wednesday will mark the end of the quarter, and the S&P 500 was down almost 7% from its highest close in early September. Many investors missed out on the recovery from late in March, but many of the key leadership stocks are still down significantly from their highs.

Investors are now firmly bracing the election and the next presidential debate, and they are dealing with a slower recovery and no approved stimulus package yet. With interest rates likely to be low for a very long time, investors need to be considering new ideas and trying to decide how they want to be positioned heading for the fourth quarter and beyond.

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, September 30, 2020.

Bio-Techne Corp. (NASDAQ: TECH) was started with an Overweight rating and its price target was set at $365 (versus a $246.76 prior close) at Atlantic Equities.

Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GOOS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen, with the firm seeing positive signs from a strong brand and global appeal.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $38 from $36 (versus a $30.61 close) at Raymond James.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $100 price target at Stifel. The stock closed up 3.8% at $81.24 ahead of the call, with an $89.71 consensus price target.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was started as Overweight and its price target was set at $355 Atlantic Equities. Shares closed at $305.50 on Tuesday with a $296.40 consensus, and the stock has now recovered about half of its losses since mid-September.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Buy and its price objective was set at $390 at BofA Securities. The stock closed up 1.5% at $323.67 ahead of the call, and it has a $371.10 consensus target price.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNS) was started with a Buy rating and a $35 price target (versus an $11.62 close) at Truist Securities. The firm noted that Ganaxolone could prove to be a pipeline drug to treat epilepsies.