Posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2018 by MarketBeat StaffEvery trading day, between 500 and 800 new recommendations and research reports are issued by sell-side equities research analysts. There are between 300 and 500 brokerages and research houses that issue ratings, price targets and recommendations and more than 5,000 securities around the world that regularly receive coverage from research analysts.
MarketBeat has tracked more than 170,000 distinct analyst recommendations in the last 12 months alone. Given the volume of ratings changes that occur each day, it can be difficult to sift through the noise.
Analysts don't always get their "buy" ratings right, but it's worth taking a hard look when more than a dozen different analysts from different brokerages and research firm are giving "strong buy" and "buy" ratings to the same stock.
This slide show lists the 20 companies that have the highest average analyst recommendations from Wall Street's equities research analysts over the last 12 months.
#1 - Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $73.00 (-2.5% Upside)
Encompass Health Corporation provides facility-based and home-based post-acute healthcare services in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Inpatient Rehabilitation, and Home Health and Hospice. The Inpatient Rehabilitation segment provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient and outpatient basis to patients who are recovering from conditions, such as stroke and other neurological disorders, cardiac and pulmonary conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries, complex orthopedic conditions, and amputations. The Home Health and Hospice segment provides home health and hospice services primarily in the Southeast and Texas. Its home health services include a range of Medicare-certified home nursing services to adult patients in need of care comprising skilled nursing, medical social work, and home health aide services, as well as physical, occupational, speech therapy, and others. This segment's hospice services comprise in-home services to terminally ill patients and their families to address patients' physical needs, including pain control and symptom management, and to provide emotional and spiritual support. As of March 1, 2018, Encompass Health Corporation operated 127 hospitals, and 237 home health and hospice agencies in 36 states and Puerto Rico. The company was formerly known as HealthSouth Corporation and changed its name to Encompass Health Corporation in January 2018. Encompass Health Corporation was founded in 1983 and is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
#2 - Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 5 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $51.70 (23.4% Upside)
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in the property, power, and infrastructure sectors. Its property business includes owning and managing office properties, developing master planned residential communities, and offering clients bridge and mezzanine lending, alternative assets funds, and financial and advisory services. Through its subsidiaries, the firm operates hydroelectric power facilities, interconnections and transmission facilities in Northeast North America, and development of wind power in Canada. Through its subsidiaries, it invests in specialty funds including private equity and makes direct investments in real estate, energy, and resource assets. The firm launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. It also manages real estate and hedge funds. The firm invests in equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It was formerly known as Brascan Corp. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Bogota, Colombia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Calgary, Canada, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Gatineau, Canada, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, London, United Kingdom, Melbourne, Australia, Montreal, Canada, Mumbai, India, New York City, Perth, Australia, Shanghai, China, and Sydney, Australia.
#3 - Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 5 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $4.00 (0.0% Upside)
Gerdau S.A. provides steel-related products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Brazil Operations, North America Operations, South America Operations, and Special Steel Operations. The company offers semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles, which are used primarily in the construction and manufacturing industries; and drawn products comprising barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire meshes, nails, and clamps, as well as mines and produces iron ore. It also produces special steel products for use in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and others markets. In addition, the company offers flat products comprising hot rolled coils and heavy plates; and resells flat steel products. It sells its products through independent distributors, direct sales from the mills, and its retail network. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Gerdau S.A. is a subsidiary of Metalurgica Gerdau S.A.
#4 - Mastercard (NYSE:MA)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 26 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $219.6250 (8.2% Upside)
Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers related products and services. The company also offers value-added services, such as safety and security products, loyalty and reward programs, information and consulting services, issuer and acquirer processing solutions, and payment and mobile gateways. In addition, it provides various integrated products and services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, governments, and other organizations; programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with cards to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid payment programs and management services; and commercial payment products and solutions. Further, the company provides products and services to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud and cyber-attacks, and ensure the safety of transactions. It offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus brands. Mastercard Incorporated has a strategic partnership with Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company BSC. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.
#5 - Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 18 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $122.2222 (9.1% Upside)
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. discovers and develops pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and endocrine-related diseases and disorders in the United States. The company's lead products include INGREZZA (valbenazine), a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor (VMAT2), which is used for the treatment of movement disorders; elagolix, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist that is in Phase III clinical trial for use in women's health; and opicapone, a catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor, which is in Phase III clinical trial that is used for in adjunct therapy and preparations of levodopa/DOPA decarboxylase inhibitors for adult patients with Parkinson's disease. It is also developing NBI-74788, which is in Phase II clinical trial that is used for the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In addition, the company's research programs comprise VMAT2 Inhibitors for movement disorders, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia; and G Protein-Coupled Receptors and Ion Channels for epilepsy, essential tremor, pain, dystonia, and other indications. It has collaborations and agreements with AbbVie Inc. to develop and commercialize elagolix and GnRH antagonists for women's and men's health; Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to develop and commercialize INGREZZA for movement disorders; and BIAL Portela & Ca, S.A. to develop and commercialize opicapone for the treatment of human diseases and conditions, including Parkinson's disease. The company also has a research collaboration agreement with Jnana Therapeutics Inc. to discover novel small molecule therapeutics for multiple targets for central nervous system disorders. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
#6 - Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 14 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $68.9231 (23.6% Upside)
Okta, Inc. provides identity solutions for enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, universities, non-profits, and government agencies in the United States and internationally. The company offers Okta Identity Cloud, a platform that offers a suite of products to manage and secure identities, such as Universal Directory, a cloud-based system of record to store and secure user, application, and device profiles for an organization; Single Sign-On that enables users to access their applications in the cloud or on-premise from various devices with a single entry of their user credentials; Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication, a product that provides an additional layer of security for Web and mobile applications, and data of organization; Lifecycle Management, which enables IT organizations or developers to manage a user's identity throughout its lifecycle; API Access Management that enables organizations to secure APIs; and Mobility Management, which simplifies and automates mobile device administration and provisioning across phones, tablets, and laptops. It also offers customer support and training, and professional services. Okta, Inc. sells its products directly to customers through sales force, as well as through channel partners. The company was formerly known as Saasure, Inc. Okta, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
#7 - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 48 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $2,019.3712 (14.5% Upside)
Amazon.com, Inc. engages in the retail sale of consumer products and subscriptions in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. It sells merchandise and content purchased for resale from vendors, as well as those offered by third-party sellers through physical stores and retail Websites, such as amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.com.mx, amazon.com.au, amazon.com.br, amazon.cn, amazon.fr, amazon.de, amazon.in, amazon.it, amazon.co.jp, amazon.nl, amazon.es, and amazon.co.uk. As of September 4, 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. operated three Amazon Go cashier less convenience stores in Seattle. The company also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including kindle e-readers, fire tablets, fire TVs, and echo devices; and provides Kindle Direct Publishing, an online service that allows independent authors and publishers to make their books available in the Kindle Store. In addition, it offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Websites, as well as their own branded Websites; and programs that allow authors, musicians, filmmakers, app developers, and others to publish and sell content. Further, the company provides compute, storage, database, and other AWS services, as well as fulfillment, publishing, digital content subscriptions, advertising, and co-branded credit card agreement services. Additionally, it offers Amazon Prime, a membership program, which provides free shipping of various items; access to unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes; and other services. It serves consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises, and content creators. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
#8 - Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 21 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $38.4091 (5.1% Upside)
Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through three segments: Cardiovascular, Rhythm Management, and MedSurg. The company offers interventional cardiology products, including drug-eluting coronary stent systems used in the treatment of coronary artery disease; percutaneous coronary interventions therapy products to treat atherosclerosis; intravascular catheter-directed ultrasound imaging catheters, fractional flow reserve devices, and systems for use in coronary arteries and heart chambers, as well as certain peripheral vessels; and structural heart therapy systems. It also provides stents, balloon catheters, wires, and atherectomy systems to treat arterial diseases; thrombectomy systems, wires, and stents to treat venous diseases; and peripheral embolization devices, microcatheters, and drainage catheters to treat various cancers. In addition, the company offers cardiac rhythm management devices, such as implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems to treat abnormalities; remote patient management system; implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker systems; and medical technologies to diagnose and treat rate and rhythm disorders of the heart comprising ablation catheters, intracardiac ultrasound catheters, diagnostic catheters, delivery sheaths, mapping system, and other accessories. Further, it provides products to diagnose and treat diseases of the gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to diagnose, treat, and palliate pulmonary diseases within the airway and lungs; and products to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; deep brain stimulation systems for the treatment of parkinson's disease, tremor, and intractable primary and secondary dystonia; and spinal cord stimulator systems for the management of chronic pain. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
#9 - Masimo (NASDAQ:MASI)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 4 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $109.00 (-6.0% Upside)
Masimo Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and markets noninvasive monitoring technologies worldwide. The company offers Masimo Signal Extraction Technology (SET) pulse oximetry with measure-through-motion and low-perfusion pulse oximetry monitoring to address the primary limitations of conventional pulse oximetry. It also provides Masimo rainbow SET platform that includes rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry products that noninvasively monitor hemoglobin species, including oxygen saturation, pulse rate, perfusion index, pleth variability index, and respiration rate from the pleth; noninvasively monitor hemoglobin concentration, and carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin saturation; monitor arterial oxygen saturation and acoustic respiration rate; and calculates oxygen content and oxygen reserve index. In addition, the company offers SedLine brain function monitoring technology to measure the brain's electrical activity by detecting EEG signals; capnography and gas monitoring products comprising external plug-in-and-measure capnography and gas analyzers, integrated modules, and handheld capnograph and capnometer devices; and O3 regional oximetry for tissue oxygen saturation measurement. Further, it provides Patient SafetyNet, a surveillance, remote monitoring, and clinician notification solution; MyView, a wireless presence-detection system; and connectivity devices. The company provides its products directly, as well as through distributors and original equipment manufacturers partners to hospitals, emergency medical service providers, physician offices, veterinarians, long term care facilities, and consumers. Masimo Corporation has a strategic partnership with NU Hospitals. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
#10 - Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 12 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $370.7333 (18.5% Upside)
Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a system of clear aligner therapy, intraoral scanners, and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) digital services. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers Invisalign Full, a treatment used for a range of malocclusion; Invisalign Teen treatment that addresses orthodontic needs of teenage patients, such as compliance indicators, compensation for tooth eruption, and six free single arch replacement aligners; and Invisalign Assist treatment for anterior alignment and aesthetically-oriented cases. It also provides Invisalign Express (10 and 5) and Invisalign Lite/i7 treatments for orthodontic cases, non-comprehensive treatment relapse cases, or straightening prior to restorative or cosmetic treatments; Invisalign Go, a solution for general practitioner dentists (GPs) to identify and treat patients with mild malocclusion; SmileDirectClub aligners for minor tooth movement; custom clear aligner retainers used to maintain tooth position and correct minor relapse; and SmartTrack, a custom-engineered material that delivers force for orthodontic tooth movements. The company's Scanners and Services segment offers iTero Scanner, a single hardware platform with software options for restorative or orthodontic procedures; and Restorative software for iTero, a software for GPs, prosthodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons. It also provides Orthodontic software for iTero, a software for orthodontists for digital records storage, orthodontic diagnosis, Invisalign digital impression submission, and for the fabrication of printed models and retainers; CAD/CAM services, such as iTero Models and Dies, OrthoCAD iCast, and OrthoCAD iRecord; and Invisalign outcome simulator, a chair-side and cloud-based application for the iTero scanner, as well as third party scanners and digital scans for Invisalign treatment submission. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
#11 - Zendesk (NYSE:ZEN)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 14 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $66.50 (15.0% Upside)
Zendesk, Inc., a software development company, provides SaaS products for organizations. Its flagship product is Zendesk Support, a system for tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets across various channels. The company also offers Zendesk Chat, a live chat software to connect with customers on Websites, in applications, and on mobile devices; Zendesk Talk, a cloud-based call center software; Zendesk Guide, a knowledge base that for customer self-service and support agent productivity; Zendesk Message, a customer messaging software; and Zendesk Explore that makes customer data accessible across an organization. In addition, it operates a developer platform that allows organizations to extend the functionality of its family of products, integrate into internal and third-party systems, and customize the experience for their employees and customers. It has operations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. Zendesk, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
#12 - GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $26.60 (55.1% Upside)
GrafTech International Ltd. researches, develops, manufactures, and sells synthetic and natural graphite and carbon based products worldwide. It offers graphite electrodes, which are components of the conductive power systems used to produce steel and non-ferrous metals; and petroleum needle coke, a crystalline form of carbon used in the production of graphite electrodes. The company sells its products primarily through direct sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Independence, Ohio. GrafTech International Ltd. is a subsidiary of BCP IV GrafTech Holdings LP.
#13 - Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ:FMI)
Consensus Rating: Hold
Rating Score: 2.3
Ratings Breakdown: 1 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $81.00 (-40.9% Upside)
Foundation Medicine, Inc. provides various molecular information products in the United States. The company's molecular information platform includes proprietary methods and algorithms to analyze specimens across various types of cancer, as well as for incorporating that information into clinical care; and offers genomic insights about each patient's individual cancer, enabling physicians to optimize treatments in clinical practice and biopharmaceutical companies to develop targeted therapies and immunotherapies. It provides clinical products, such as FoundationOne for solid tumors; FoundationOne Heme for blood-based cancers, or hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and sarcomas; Foundation Assay for Circulating Tumor; FoundationFocus CDxBRCA, a diagnostic assay to aid in identifying women with ovarian cancer; and FoundationOne CDx, a diagnostic assay for solid tumors. The company also offers FoundationCORE, a knowledgebase to publish scientific and medical advances, and foster relationships throughout the oncology community. In addition, it has strategic collaboration agreements with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.; and Genentech, Inc. Foundation Medicine, Inc. has a collaboration with The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer to advance precision medicine using comprehensive genomic profiling to facilitate clinical trial enrollment. It also has a three-party collaboration agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and DIAN Diagnostics Group, Co., Ltd. to integrate the company's comprehensive genomic profiling assays into clinical patient care in mainland China. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Foundation Medicine, Inc. is a subsidiary of Roche Holdings, Inc.
#14 - Twilio (NYSE:TWLO)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 18 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $78.1765 (17.7% Upside)
Twilio Inc. provides a cloud communications platform that enables developers to build, scale, and operate communications within software applications in the United States and internationally. The company's programmable communications cloud provides a set of application programming interfaces that enable developers to embed voice, messaging, and video capabilities into their applications. Twilio Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
#15 - Iqvia (NYSE:IQV)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 15 Buy Ratings, 4 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $127.8333 (0.7% Upside)
IQVIA Holdings Inc. provides integrated information and technology-enabled healthcare services in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Commercial Solutions, Research & Development Solutions, and Integrated Engagement Services. The Commercial Solutions segment offers a range of cloud-based applications and related implementation, real-world insights, and reference information services; and strategic and implementation consulting services, such as advanced analytics and commercial processes outsourcing services. This segment also provides country level performance metrics related to sales of pharmaceutical products, prescribing trends, medical treatment, and promotional activity across various channels, including retail, hospital, and mail order to life science companies, and investment and financial sectors that deal with life science companies; and measurement of sales or prescribing activity at the regional, zip code, and individual prescriber level to pharmaceutical sales organizations. The Research & Development Solutions segment offers biopharmaceutical development services comprising project management and clinical monitoring, clinical trial support, and strategic planning and design services, as well as clinical trial, genomic, and bioanalytical laboratory services. The Integrated Engagement Services segment provides health care provider and patient engagement services, and scientific strategy and medical affairs services. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, device and diagnostic, and healthcare companies. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a strategic alliance with MuleSoft, Inc. The company was formerly known as Quintiles IMS Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to IQVIA Holdings Inc. in November 2017. IQVIA Holdings Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
#16 - salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 34 Buy Ratings, 5 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $165.4865 (17.8% Upside)
salesforce.com, inc. develops enterprise cloud computing solutions with a focus on customer relationship management. The company offers Sales Cloud to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, and gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, as well as deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices. It also provides Service Cloud, which enables companies to deliver personalized customer service and support, as well as a field service solution that enables companies to connect agents, dispatchers, and mobile employees through a centralized platform, which helps to schedule and dispatch work, and track and manage jobs in real-time. In addition, the company offers Marketing Cloud to plan, personalize, and optimize one-to-one customer marketing interactions; Commerce Cloud, which enables companies to enhance engagement, conversion, revenue, and loyalty from their customers; and Community Cloud that enables companies to create and manage branded digital destinations for customers, partners, and employees. Further, it provides Quip collaboration platform, which combines documents, spreadsheets, apps, and chat with live CRM data; Salesforce Platform for building enterprise apps, as well as artificial intelligence (AI), no-code, low-code, and code development and integration services, including Trailhead, Einstein AI, Lightning, Internet of Things, Heroku, Analytics, and AppExchange; and solutions for financial services, healthcare, and government. Additionally, the company offers cloud services, such as consulting and implementation services; training services, including instructor-led and online courses; and support and adoption programs. It provides its services through direct sales; and consulting firms, systems integrators, and other partners. salesforce.com, inc. has a partnership with Apple Inc. to develop customer relationship management platform. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
#17 - Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 23 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $170.2959 (26.9% Upside)
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics, gene therapy, and other genetic medicine approaches for the treatment of rare neuromuscular diseases. The company offers EXONDYS 51, a disease-modifying therapy for the treatment of duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which is a rare genetic muscle-wasting disease caused by the absence of dystrophin. It also provides Golodirsen, a product candidate that binds to exon 53 of dystrophin pre-mRNA, which results in exclusion or skipping of exon during mRNA processing in patients with genetic mutations that are amenable to exon 53 skipping; and Casimersen, a product candidate that uses phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) chemistry and exon-skipping technology to skip exon 45 of the DMD gene. In addition, the company provides SRP-5051, a peptide conjugated PMO that binds to exon 51 of dystrophin pre-mRNA resulting in exclusion of exon during mRNA processing in patients with genetic mutations that are amenable to exon 51 skipping. The company has strategic alliances with Nationwide Children's Hospital for the advancement of micro-dystrophin gene therapy program under the research and license option agreement, as well as Galgt2 gene therapy program under the license agreement; and Genethon for the advancement of micro-dystrophin gene therapy program under a research and exclusive license option agreement. It also has a research and license option agreement with Duke University for the advancement of gene editing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for muscular dystrophy; and a collaboration and license agreement with Summit (Oxford) Ltd. to commercialize products in Summit's utrophin modulator pipeline. The company distributes its products through a network of specialty distributors and specialty pharmacies in the United States, as well as through distributors internationally. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
#18 - Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.1
Ratings Breakdown: 26 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $223.9167 (56.7% Upside)
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as an online and mobile commerce company in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Core Commerce, Cloud Computing, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others. It operates Taobao Marketplace, a mobile commerce destination; Tmall, a third-party platform for brands and retailers; Rural Taobao program that enables rural residents and businesses to sell agricultural products to urban consumers; 1688.com, an online wholesale marketplace; Alibaba.com, an online wholesale marketplace; AliExpress, a retail marketplace; Lazada, an e-commerce platform; and Lingshoutong, a digital sourcing platform. The company also provides pay-for-performance and display marketing services; and Taobao Ad Network and Exchange, a real-time bidding online marketing exchange in China; and digital payment and financial technology platform services. In addition, it offers cloud computing services, including elastic computing, database, storage, virtualization network, large scale computing, security, and management and application services, big data analytics, a machine learning platform, and Internet of Things and other service for enterprises; and payment and escrow services; and movies, TV drama series, online dramas, variety shows, news feeds, games, literature and music, and other areas through various content platforms, as well as develops and operates mobile browsers. Further, the company provides AutoNavi, a mobile digital map, navigation, and real-time traffic information; DingTalk, a proprietary enterprise communication and collaboration platform; and Tmall Genie, an AI-powered voice assistant, which helps consumers to shop, order local services, search for information, control smart appliances, and play interactive content. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China.
#19 - Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.7
Ratings Breakdown: 18 Buy Ratings, 7 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $238.70 (3.9% Upside)
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates membership warehouses. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company provides dry and packaged foods, and groceries; snack foods, candies, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and cleaning supplies; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio products; meat, bakery, deli, and produces; and apparel and small appliances. It also operates gas stations, pharmacies, optical dispensing centers, food courts, and hearing-aid centers; and engages in the travel business. In addition, the company provides gold star individual and business membership services. As of September 3, 2017, it operated 741 membership warehouses, including 514 warehouses in the United States, Washington, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 97 in Canada, 37 in Mexico, 28 in the United Kingdom, 26 in Japan, 13 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, 9 in Australia, 2 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, and 1 in France. Further, the company sells its products through online. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc. Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1976 and is based in Issaquah, Washington.
#20 - WPX Energy (NYSE:WPX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 25 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $22.96 (26.6% Upside)
WPX Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, engages in the exploitation and development of unconventional properties in the United States. The company's principal areas of operation include the Delaware Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Williston Basin in North Dakota; and the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado. As of December 31, 2017, it had proved reserves of 436 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
