Oppenheimer Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Target (NYSE:TGT)

Target (NYSE:TGT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Oppenheimer in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 26.90% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on TGT. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa America raised shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.63.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock traded up $5.01 on Monday, hitting $130.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,081,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,350,116. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.54. Target has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $59.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Target will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 142.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,585 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 5.6% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 11,760 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Target by 234.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,237 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.