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Research analysts at Wall Street's largest banks issue recommendations on whether a stock should be bought, held, or sold. The Fly's team of financial market experts scours hundreds of research notes daily to uncover the best trading ideas. Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.

Difficult 2022 Setup 

Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly downgraded Target (TGT) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $230, down from $275. The analyst argues that Target's epic performance during COVID-19 creates a difficult 2022 setup.

The company's differentiated model was in the right place at the right time during the pandemic, but lapping the equivalent of 10 years of growth generated in 2020/2021 is accompanied by a degree of risk that makes recommending the stock difficult to justify, Kelly contended. The analyst also noted that margins also carry some risk given the step back seen in the third quarter and the dramatic improvement overall versus 2019.

Revenue Diversification 

Bank of America analyst Jason Kupferberg upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged $340 price target. The analyst cited increasing signs of revenue diversification beyond retail crypto trading and said he believes that this trend could accelerate in 2022 and beyond.

Subscription and Services revenues represented 12% of total net revenues in the third quarter, up from 4% in 2020, and these should grow to 16% of total in 2023, Kupferberg told investors in a research note.

Pricing Power

Evercore ISI analyst Greg Melich upgraded Lowe's (LOW) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $280, up from $265, as he believes Lowe's is setting up as a compounder trading at a discount with nesting trends cementing themselves.

Melich believes that the company's pricing power and traffic growth are "among the best in retail" as the housing shortage continues, and sees Lowe's profitability growing share in the fragmented and secularly growing U.S. home improvement market.

Moving to the Sidelines

Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly downgraded Dollar General (DG) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $220, down from $250. While Dollar General remains an attractive multi-year story, the analyst has significant concerns around the company's exposure to the low-income consumer in 2022 given the seeming end of monthly child tax credit payments and an estimated 40% decline in SNAP.

Multiple Potential Headwinds 

Bank of America analyst Jason Kupferberg downgraded Western Union (WU) to Underperform from Buy with a price target of $20, down from $25, stating that he sees "multiple potential headwinds."

New CEO Devin McGranahan is a first-time CEO who may have limited strategic options, said Kupferberg, who believes the Street will continue to view Western Union largely as a "show me" story even once McGranahan identifies his strategic priorities. He also continues to see structural concerns related to competition from pure-play digital remittance providers and possible disruptive threats from newer technologies.