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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Ambarella, Apple, Campbell Soup, Ciena, Dollar Tree, Electronic Arts, Lululemon, Signet Jewelers, Ulta and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 31, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 6:33 pm

Stocks were indicated lower on Friday after taking a breather on Thursday. The market indexes may have recently hit all-time highs after a strong earnings season, but investors have seen less upside from the “buy the sell-offs” mentality that worked several years. Those same investors also are trying to decide how they want their investments positioned for the rest of 2018.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some 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 Friday, August 31, 2018.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) was last seen down 12.5% at $34.78 on Friday morning as earnings beat estimates but guidance was under expectations. Stifel maintained its Buy rating but lowered its price target to $45 from $56, and Deutsche Bank maintained its Hold rating while cutting its target to $38 from $44.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Neutral at Nomura/Instinet, but the price target was raised to $210 from $190. Apple shares closed up 0.9% at $225.03 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $149.16 to $228.28 and with a consensus target price of $216.99.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was maintained as Hold and the price target was cut to $36 from $40 at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down 2.1% at $39.15 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $32.63 to $51.07 and with a consensus target price of $36.77.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was up 12.5% at $30.71 on Thursday after earnings. Now we have seen more analysts chime in. Citigroup maintained its Buy rating and raised its price target to $36 from $29, and Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $33 From $29. Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $35 from $30, while BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $36 from $28.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was down about 1% after Dollar Tree’s earnings report, but Raymond James reiterated its Strong Buy rating and raised its target to $122 from $115. Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $125 from $123.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) fell 15.5% to $79.78 a share on Thursday after earnings, but Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating, despite cutting its target price to $90 from $95.

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Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) lost close to 10% of its value after delaying its “Battlefield V” game. Wedbush Securities reiterated EA as Outperform with a $158 price target (versus a $115.94 prior close). KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained its Overweight rating but lowered its price target to $137 from $168.

Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) was reiterated as Strong Buy and the price target was raised to $133 from $128 (versus a $115.94 close, after a 2.9% drop) at Raymond James.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was maintained as Neutral but the price target was raised to $152 from $127 at Citigroup. Canaccord Genuity maintained it as Hold but raised the price target to $152 from $131. Stifel reiterated its Hold rating but raised its target to $150 from $113, and Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $162 from $138.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $180 from $141 at Argus.

Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) was up almost 24% at $67.68 after blowing out earnings expectations. Wells Fargo maintained it as Market Perform with a price target hike to $65 from $50, based on stronger earnings recovery efforts.

Tech Data Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch in a rare two-notch downgrade, and its price objective was lowered to $80 from $95. Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating but lowered its price target to $85 from $95.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was up 1.1% at $244.41 on Thursday but was indicated down 1.5% at $240.65 on Friday. Stifel maintained it as Hold and cut the price target to $235 from $245. UBS maintained its Buy rating but lowered its target to $285 from $290.

Virtusa Corp. (NASDAQ: VRTU) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $70 from $60 (versus a $56.87 close) at Wedbush.

WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $360 from $265 (versus a $300.24 close) at Argus.

Thursday’s top analyst calls were in Glaukos, Itau, MongoDB, 3M, PayPal, Salesforce.com, Tandem Diabetes, Vodafone, Greek banks and many more.