Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $153.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a twelve month low of $124.88 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.52.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Target will post 9.54 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 46.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Target by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,501,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Target during the 1st quarter valued at $559,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Target by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 524,101 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $86,807,000 after purchasing an additional 19,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

About Target

Target Corporation operates as a general merchandise retailer in the United States. The company offers apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, and infants and newborns, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes; and beauty and personal care, baby gear, cleaning, paper products, and pet supplies.