Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Costco, Deckers Outdoor, Qualcomm, Shell, Shire, Ulta Beauty and More

May 26, 2017 by Lee Jackson

The market continued its winning ways yesterday, and while we’re off to a slow start this morning, it’s looking like the month of May should end up closing out with gains after some massive and nervous selling last week. With this bull market now more than eight years old, investors have shown for more than five years that they will buy all market pullbacks. Those same investors also still are looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) saw its price target raised to $190 from $182 at RBC Capital Markets, and the firm reiterated its Buy rating. The 52-week trading range for the retail giant is $142.22 to $183.18, and the Wall Street consensus price objective is $183.88. The stock closed Thursday at $174.73.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) saw its price target raised to $74 from $70 at Stifel. The firm believes the strategic review is ongoing, and the analyst continues to believe there could be good appetite from a strategic buyer, particularly with evidence of stabilizing fundamentals. The 52-week range for the shares is $44 to $69.94, and the consensus price target is $58.44. The stock closed Thursday at $56.57, but traded up more than 19% early Friday.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was resumed with a Buy rating at Merrill Lynch. The 52-week range is $61.32 to $92.29. The consensus price target is $94.68, and the stock closed Thursday at $88.28.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw its price target raised to $65 from $56 at Stifel. That compares with a consensus target of $61.27. The 52-week range is $50.84 to $71.62. The stock closed Thursday at $58.47.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) was raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity. The 52-week range is $40.85 to $74.11, and the consensus price objective is $74.50. The stock closed trading Thursday at $72.00.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas. The 52-week range for the integrated energy giant is $46.57 to $56.39. The consensus price target is$63.19. The shares closed Thursday at $54.35.

Shire PLC (NYSE: SHPG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein. The 52-week range is $161.09 to $209.22. The consensus price target is $242.49. The stock closed Thursday at $184.82 but was down about 3% in early Friday trading.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO) saw its price target raised to $86 from $70 at Needham after a solid analyst day at the company. The 52-week range is $48.28 to $79.33. The consensus price target is $74.23, and the stock closed Thursday at $78.83.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research. The 52-week range is $225.13 to $301.40. The consensus price target is set at $309.82. The shares closed Thursday at $293.04, up almost 5% on the day, and shares were up more than 4% in early Friday.

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTE) was started at a Buy rating at a firm called C.L. King, which has a $71 price objective. That compares with a consensus price target of $62.62. The 52-week range for the shares is $45.28 to $62.64. The stock closed trading Thursday at $62.58.

Other key analysts upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:

Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) was started with an Outperform rating at Cowen. The 52-week range is $1.95 to $7.70, and the consensus price target is $10.25. The shares closed Thursday at $7.47.

Jinko Solar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup. Its 52-week range is $12.72 to $24.04, and the consensus price target is $18.24. The stock closed Thursday at $21.46.

MAG Silver Corp. (NYSE: MAG) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. The 52-week range is $9.50 to $18.12, and the consensus price objective is $17.34. The stock closed Thursday at $11.48.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The 52-week range is $9.05 to $17.14, and the consensus price objective is $18.50. The shares closed Thursday at $16.94.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was started with a Hold rating at Jefferies. The 52-week range is $239.48 to $339.62. The consensus price target is set at $351.57. The stock closed Thursday at $334.09.

In case you missed it, here are Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades. They included Akamai, Alexion, Altria, Chipotle, MEI Pharma, PayPal, Netflix and More.

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