7 Best Stocks to Own Right Now in 2018

Posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2018 by MarketBeat Staff

Today, we are inviting you to view our list of the seven best stocks to own for the next thirty days.

Why is it worth looking into these stocks? Some of Wall Street's most respected and most accurate research analysts have been upgrading these stocks and raising their price targets for these companies.

No, we're not talking recommendations from some no-name blogger or a junior analyst from a brokerage you've never heard of. These stocks have received multiple positive recommendations in the last 30 days from analysts that have received four star and five star rankings from MarketBeat's proprietary brokerage ranking system.

Analysts given four star and five star ratings from MarketBeat consistently issue accurate price targets and their buy recommendations often outperform the market by double digits. Buy recommendations from our current top-rated brokerage, National Securities, have gone up by an average of 47.5% in the 12 months after they were issued.

We've reviewed every research report published by these top-rated analysts in the last 90 days and have identified seven stocks that these analysts are poised for an immediate breakout.

#1 - Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 14 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Hold
Rating Score: 2.4
Ratings Breakdown: 11 Buy Ratings, 12 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $80.7895 (-10.2% Upside)

Tractor Supply Company operates rural lifestyle retail stores in the United States. The company offers a selection of merchandise, including equine, livestock, pet, and small animal products necessary for their health, care, growth, and containment; hardware, truck, towing, and tool products; seasonal products, such as heating products, lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys; work/recreational clothing and footwear; and maintenance products for agricultural and rural use. As of December 30, 2017, it operated 1,853 retail stores in 49 states. The company operates its retail stores under the Tractor Supply Company, Del's Feed & Farm Supply, and Petsense names. It also operates e-commerce Websites, TractorSupply.com and Petsense.com. The company sells its products to recreational farmers, ranchers, and others, as well as tradesmen and small businesses. Tractor Supply Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Recent Recommendations for Tractor Supply:

• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $90.00 to $100.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (9/14/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating. They now have a $97.00 price target on the stock. (8/28/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $80.00 to $80.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (8/17/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating. They now have a $88.00 price target on the stock. (8/3/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating. (8/2/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies from $85.00 to $90.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (7/27/2018)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $77.00 to $80.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (7/27/2018)

#2 - Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 14 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 33 Buy Ratings, 5 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $237.0286 (3.3% Upside)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. provides security platform solutions worldwide. Its platform includes Next-Generation Firewall that delivers application, user, and content visibility and control, as well as protection against network-based cyber threats; Advanced Endpoint Protection, which prevents cyber-attacks that exploit software vulnerabilities on various fixed, mobile, and virtual endpoints and servers; and Threat Intelligence Cloud, which offers central intelligence capabilities, security for software as a service applications, and automated delivery of preventative measures against cyber-attacks. The company provides firewall appliances and software; Panorama, a security management solution for the control of appliances deployed on an end-customer's network as a virtual or a physical appliance; and Virtual System Upgrades, which are available as extensions to the virtual system capacity that ships with physical appliances. It also offers subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, uniform resource locator filtering, malware and persistent threat, laptop and mobile device protection, and firewall, as well as cyber-attack, threat intelligence, and content control. In addition, the company provides support services; and professional services, including application traffic management, solution design and planning, configuration, and firewall migration, as well as online and classroom-style education training services. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. sells its products and services through its channel partners, as well as directly to medium to large enterprises, service providers, and government entities operating in various industries, including education, energy, financial services, government entities, healthcare, Internet and media, manufacturing, public sector, and telecommunications. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Recent Recommendations for Palo Alto Networks:

• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating. (9/12/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating. They now have a $264.00 price target on the stock. (9/11/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $282.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (9/7/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $245.00 to $275.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (9/7/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies to $250.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (9/7/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) had its price target raised by analysts at CIBC from $235.00 to $275.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (9/7/2018)
• Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $235.00 to $275.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (9/7/2018)

#3 - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 14 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 47 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $1,993.1055 (4.1% 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.

Recent Recommendations for Amazon.com:

• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. They now have a $2,300.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $2,110.00. (9/10/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc from $2,100.00 to $2,250.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/10/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at DA Davidson from $2,200.00 to $2,450.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/5/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. They now have a $2,110.00 price target on the stock. (9/4/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Robert W. Baird. (9/3/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. They now have a $2,110.00 price target on the stock. (8/23/2018)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at MKM Partners from $1,840.00 to $2,215.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (8/22/2018)

#4 - Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 14 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.6
Ratings Breakdown: 19 Buy Ratings, 14 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $143.80 (-8.4% Upside)

lululemon athletica inc., an athletic apparel company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel and accessories for women, men, and female youth. It operates through two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle and athletic activities, such as yoga, running, and training, as well as other sweaty pursuits; and athletic wear for female youth. It also provides fitness-related accessories, including bags, socks, underwear, yoga mats and equipment, and water bottles. The company sells its products through a chain of company-operated stores; outlets and warehouse sales; a network of wholesale accounts, such as yoga studios, health clubs, and fitness centers; temporary locations, including seasonal stores; license and supply arrangements; and showrooms, as well as directly to consumer through mobile apps, and lululemon.com and ivivva.com e-commerce sites. As of January 28, 2018, it operated 404 company-operated stores under the lululemon and ivivva brands in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Japan, Ireland, South Korea, Germany, and Switzerland. lululemon athletica inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Recent Recommendations for Lululemon Athletica:

• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating. They now have a $200.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $144.00. (9/17/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating. They now have a $181.00 price target on the stock. (9/5/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $130.00 to $165.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (9/5/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $180.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (8/31/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. to $180.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (8/31/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc from $127.00 to $152.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (8/31/2018)
• Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was given a new $144.00 price target on by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. They now have a "hold" rating on the stock. (8/31/2018)

#5 - salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 13 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 34 Buy Ratings, 4 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $160.3611 (3.1% 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, on which they can 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 various solutions for financial services, healthcare, and government. Additionally, the company offers professional 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 through consulting firms, systems integrators, and other partners. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Recent Recommendations for salesforce.com:

• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating. They now have a $176.00 price target on the stock. (9/5/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $147.00 to $180.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (8/30/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $160.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (8/30/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its "outperform" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $170.00 price target on the stock. (8/30/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its price target raised by analysts at JMP Securities from $163.00 to $178.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (8/30/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $168.00 to $180.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (8/30/2018)
• salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt. They now have a $170.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $158.00. (8/30/2018)

#6 - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 12 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.5
Ratings Breakdown: 25 Buy Ratings, 17 Hold Ratings, 2 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $219.1053 (0.7% Upside)

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, and personal computers to consumers, and small and mid-sized businesses; and education, enterprise, and government customers worldwide. The company also sells related software, services, accessories, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. It offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and Mac, a line of desktop and portable personal computers, as well as operating systems comprising iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The company also provides iWork, an integrated productivity suite that helps users create, present, and publish documents, presentations, and spreadsheets; and other application software, such as Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro X, and FileMaker Pro. In addition, it offers Apple TV that connects to consumers' TV and enables them to access digital content directly for streaming high definition video, playing music and games, and viewing photos; Apple Watch, a personal electronic device; and iPod touch, a flash memory-based digital music and media player. Further, the company sells Apple-branded and third-party accessories, such as headphones, displays, storage devices, Beats products, and other connectivity and computing products and supplies. Additionally, it offers iCloud, a cloud service that stores music, photos, contacts, calendars, mail, documents, and others; AppleCare, which offers support options for its customers; and Apple Pay, a cashless payment service. The company sells and delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, TV App Store, iBooks Store, and Apple Music. It also sells its products through its retail and online stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. Apple Inc. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Recent Recommendations for Apple:

• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a new $210.00 price target on by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (9/17/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a new $200.00 price target on by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/17/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Robert W. Baird. They now have a $230.00 price target on the stock. (9/17/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a new $250.00 price target on by analysts at UBS Group AG. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/17/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a new $240.00 price target on by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/17/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had its price target raised by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $275.00 to $300.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/14/2018)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a new $270.00 price target on by analysts at Independent Research GmbH. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (9/14/2018)

#7 - Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 11 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.5
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 6 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $57.10 (-21.2% Upside)

Roku, Inc. operates a TV streaming platform. The company operates in two segments, Player and Platform. Its platform allows users to search, discover, and access approximately 500,000 movies and TV episodes, as well as live sports, music, news, and others. As of December 31, 2017, the company had 19.3 million active accounts. It also provides advertising products, including videos ads, interactive video ads, audience development promotions, and brand sponsorships; and manufactures, sells, and licenses TVs under the Roku TV name. In addition, the company offers streaming media players and accessories under the Roku brand that allow users to access its TV streaming platform; and sells branded channel buttons on remote controls. It provides its products and services through retailers and distributors, as well as directly to customers through its Website in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Republic of Ireland, and various Latin American countries. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.

Recent Recommendations for Roku:

• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc to $72.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (9/12/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its "overweight" rating re-affirmed by analysts at KeyCorp. They now have a $81.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $67.00. (9/11/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at Loop Capital to $52.00. They now have a "hold" rating on the stock. (8/28/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at DA Davidson to $44.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (8/10/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $54.00 to $67.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (8/9/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $50.00 to $59.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (8/9/2018)
• Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc from $40.00 to $50.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (8/9/2018)