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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Abercrombie, Dollar Tree, Domino's, GoDaddy, Intuit, Starbucks, Twitter, Ulta Beauty and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 25, 2017 8:45 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:14 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Friday after a light sell-off on Thursday. It is important to consider that the Dow and S&P 500 remain within striking distance of all-time highs. It is also important to keep in mind that more than half of the eight-year bull market has been dominated by the trend whereby investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Many investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, August 25, 2017.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $16 price target at Citigroup. The shares closed up 17% at $11.25 on Thursday and were indicated up another 3.2% at $11.61 on Friday, in a 52-week trading range of $8.81 to $23.29. The prior consensus analyst target price was $11.36.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was up 5.6% at $78.50 on Thursday, and its stock was up 1.9% at $80.00 on Friday. Merrill Lynch reinstated it as Buy with a $91 price objective, noting that the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar momentum are both improving. Raymond James raised its rating to Strong Buy from Market Perform.

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the firm noting that there is slowing international revenue as well as the potential for a comparable slowdown in domestic sales. Shares closed at $183.30, and the stock has a 52-week range of $145.00 to $221.58.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY) was started as Buy with a $55 price target (versus a $42.35 prior close) at Jefferies. The report called GoDaddy an underappreciated midcap story providing investors a balanced profile of consistent low to mid-teens revenue growth, margin expansion and significant cash flow generation.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was started as Buy with a $157 price target (versus a $135.52 close) at Jefferies. The recent metrics are starting to show an acceleration in user adoption. Intuit has a 52-week range of $103.22 to $143.81, and it had a consensus target price of $133.88.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $60 price target (versus a $53.94 close) at Wedbush Securities. While the firm’s checks indicate U.S. comparable sales are tracking in line with expectations, the potential contribution to growth from the China joint venture acquisition is a partial offset to slower same-store sales in the Americas.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, and the firm cut its price target to $16 from $20, with the firm noting that its monetization is slipping and that Facebook is the clear winner in social media. Twitter was last seen trading down 1.2% at $16.68, in a 52-week range of $14.12 to $25.25 and with a prior consensus target price of $15.91.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was last seen down about 5% at $221.50 after an earnings beat but guidance was more or less in line to a tad short of estimates. The stock was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $235 price target at BMO Capital Markets. It was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm cut its price target to $300 from $350.

Wix.com Ltd (NASDAQ: WIX) was started as Buy with a $74 price target (versus $60.65 close) at Jefferies. The firm called Wix a standout premium-growth story, on pace to deliver 3 straight years of better than 40% annual revenue growth. It also noted that 2017 revenue is accelerating.

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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was last seen trading up 5.2% at $116.40 after its adjusted earnings beat expectations, above its prior high of $115.25. Autodesk was reiterated as Outperform with a $128 price target at Wedbush. Merrill Lynch maintained its Neutral rating, based on average revenue per user being of low quality despite the results looking good on the surface.

Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $52 price target (versus a $43.54 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Northcoast Research raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $53 price target.

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was reinstated as Buy with a $90 price objective (versus a $75.69 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $33 from $39 at Credit Suisse. The firm noted that volatility has reduced visibility, and it also removed Hormel from its U.S. Focus List.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $275 price target (versus a $243.62 close) at Stifel.

MINDBODY Inc. (NASDAQ: MB) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $26 price target (versus a $23.10 close) at Jefferies.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $149 from $136 at Credit Suisse.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a price target of $76 (versus a $60.28 close) at Susquehanna. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating with an $80 price objective. Splunk beat estimates and gave good guidance, and its shares were indicated up 10% at $66.39 ahead of Friday’s opening bell.

Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Needham.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $120 price objective at Merrill Lynch, with the firm noting that this was a sum-of-the-parts analysis based on both its mature and emerging segments.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $78 price target (versus a $67.19 close) at Stifel. Its shares were indicated up 1.5% at $68.18 on Friday.

There are currently 12 big financial institutions in banking and insurance trading under book value after the recent financial sell-off.

Merrill Lynch has its top cheap dividend picks for the third quarter.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gentex, HP, Lowe’s, Teva Pharmaceutical and many more.