Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to learn which companies the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.

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.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Raymond James analyst John Davis upgraded PayPal (PYPL) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $123 price target. After several consecutive challenging quarters of meaningful negative estimate revisions, Davis now has increased confidence forward estimates have bottomed and expects PayPal's depressed multiple to grind higher as estimates rise.
• BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis upgraded Nikola (NKLA) to Buy from Neutral with a $12 price target. The analyst believes Nikola is well positioned to benefit from increasing demand to decarbonize the Class 8 truck market.
• BofA analyst Mihir Bhatia upgraded SoFi Technologies (SOFI) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $9, up from $8. The stock's risk/reward is attractive, said the analyst, who sees potential for a "meaningful catalyst path" over the next few quarters as SoFi benefits from the student loan payment moratorium ending and its "high-profile" National Football league marketing investments driving user growth and engagement.
• Berenberg analyst Luisa Hector upgraded Merck (MRK) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $100, up from $95. For investors seeking a "low-risk value option" in the sector, Merck "offers many attractions," including medium-term growth just ahead of the sector average, limited patent expiry burden, low exposure to U.S. price reform, margin expansion and no litigation overhang, Hector told investors in a research note.
• Argus analyst Kristina Ruggeri upgraded Perrigo (PRGO) to Buy from Hold with a $46 price target. Despite the continued headwinds around cost inflation, unfavorable exchange rates and labor shortages, Perrigo's momentum from second quarter should continue, leading to margin and earnings growth this year, the analyst argued.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Evercore ISI analyst David Togut double downgraded Block (SQ) to Underperform from Outperform with a price target of $55, down from $120. The analyst sees "growing headwinds" to the company's seller and buy now pay later businesses, driven by increasing competition, tightening credit and an expected slowdown in macroeconomic growth.
• Loop Capital analyst Laura Champine downgraded Match Group (MTCH) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $60, down from $70. The analyst warned that after the company missed estimates on revenue and earnings in the second quarter, she sees potential for further misses into 2023.
• Berenberg analyst Luisa Hector downgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $76, down from $82. While Bristol-Myers "initially appears to be largely immune" from U.S. price reform, it faces risk to Eliquis in the first round of price negotiation in September 2023 and a high level of Part D exposure in the new launch schedule, Hector told investors in a research note.
• BofA analyst Ronald Epstein downgraded RBC Bearings (ROLL) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $235, up from $193. While RBC Bearings' operating margins are set for "healthy improvement" as well, the analyst sees the stock "priced for more than perfections" following its "substantial" outperformance year-to-date relative to S&P500.
• Bernstein analyst David Vernon downgraded Union Pacific (UNP) and CSX (CSX) to Market Perform from Outperform with price targets of $230 and $32, respectively. Macro crosswinds, a looming reset in the truck market, and elevated labor inflation increase the risk to top line growth and margin expansion into 2023, Vernon argued.

Top 5 Initiations:

• KeyBanc analyst Bradley Thomas initiated coverage of Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) with Overweight ratings and price targets of $155 and $200, respectively. Walmart and Target "over-earned" during the pandemic, but are now "under-earning" due to "grossly inaccurate inventory positioning," and normalization of margins "bodes positively for patient investors," Thomas told investors in a research note.
• Berenberg analyst Nay Soe Naing initiated coverage of Oracle (ORCL) with a Hold rating and $72 price target. For investors looking to buy into the cloud adoption trend, of the two software giants, SAP (SAP) "presents itself more favorably," Soe Naing told investors in a research note.
• UBS analyst Rayna Kumar initiated coverage of Shift4 Payments (FOUR) with a Buy rating and $60 price target. At a multiple of 12-times enterprise value to expected next-twelve months' EBITDA, the stock's valuation does not price in the company's ability to convert existing gateway customers to its end-to-end platform, the analyst argued. Kumar also started coverage of Toast (TOST) with a Neutral rating and $22 price target on limited upside potential.
• BofA analyst Anna Lizzul reinstated coverage of Clorox (CLX) with an Underperform rating and $130 price target. Gross margins at Clorox fell about 800 basis points in fiscal 2022 as the company experienced inflation costs over 10-times the typical annual amount across commodities, manufacturing, and logistics, noted Lizzul, who expects cost inflation to continue to be elevated through the next year. The analyst also reinstated coverage of Kimberly-Clark (KMB) with a Neutral rating and $130 price target.
• BofA analyst Anna Lizzul initiated coverage of e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) with a Buy rating and $45 price target. The analyst believes the company is in a "prime position" to continue to gain market share of the mass beauty market despite recent price increases, and innovate with "premium quality product offerings at affordable prices."