Notable Upgrades: Apple (AAPL), GoPro (GPRO), PayPal (PYPL), Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Ellie Mae, Inc. (ELLI)

In a report published Friday, Nomura analysts initiated coverage on Apple Inc. (AAPL) with a ‘Buy‘ rating and $145 price target saying the tech giant is positioned for stronger growth in China and from new iPhone models than most on the Street expect.

On valuation measures, Apple Inc. shares currently have a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 0.91 and 12.44, respectively. Price/sales for the same period is 3.11 while EPS is $8.65. Currently there are 31 analysts that rate AAPL a ‘Buy’, 12 rate it a ‘Hold’. 2 analysts rate it a ‘Sell’. Apple has a median Wall Street price target of $150 with a high target of $195.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant have traded between a low of $93.28 and a high of $134.54 and are now at $121.40. Shares are up 26.86% year-over-year and 11.76% year-to-date.
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Analysts at Citigroup (C) are out with a report this morning upgrading shares of GoPro, Inc. (GPRO) with a ‘Buy‘ from ‘Neutral‘ rating. The firm set its 12-month base case estimate on the name at $90.

GoPro, Inc. is currently printing a higher than average trading volume with the issue trading 6 million shares, compared to the average daily volume of 6.06 million. The stock began trading this morning at $64.05 to currently trade 2.37% higher from the prior days close of $61.69. On an intraday basis it has gotten as low as $62.84 and as high as $64.63.

GoPro shares have advanced 17% in the last 4 weeks and 23.18% in the past three months. Over the past 5 trading sessions the stock has lost 3.53%.

The San Mateo, California-based company, which is currently valued at $8.37 billion, has a median Wall Street price target of $71.00 with a high target of $105.00. Shares of GoPro, Inc. are up 33.19% year-over-year ; down 2.42% year-to-date.
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Investment analysts at Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm set a ‘Buy‘ rating and a $45 price target on the stock noting it views current valuation as reasonable, with shares trading in-line with card network peers Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard (MA).
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Expedia Inc. (EXPE) was reiterated a ‘Buy’ by Deutsche Bank (DB) analysts on Friday. The broker also raised its price target on the stock to $135 from $130 noting strong Q2’15 results.

The online travel company handed in earnings of $0.89 per share on revenue of $1.66 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $0.84 per share on revenue of $1.66 billion.
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Ellie Mae, Inc. (ELLI) was reiterated as ‘Buy’ with a $85 from $75 price target on Friday by Needham.

ELLI is currently printing a higher than average trading volume with the issue trading 1.1 million shares, compared to the average daily volume of 410K. The stock began trading this morning at $77.22 to currently trade 11.51% higher from the prior days close of $69.13. On an intraday basis it has gotten as low as $75.62 and as high as $80.14.

The Pleasanton, California-based company, which is currently valued at $2.26 billion, has a median Wall Street price target of $73.50 with a high target of $85.00. Ellie Mae, Inc. closed Thursday at $69.13. The name is up 135.14% year-over-year, compared with a 9.53% gain in the S&P 500.

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