Target (NYSE:TGT) Trading Up 1.3%

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $157.54 and last traded at $157.27. 715,704 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,018,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.69.

Target Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 1st quarter worth approximately $335,870,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 711.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,762,000 after purchasing an additional 768,479 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in shares of Target during the first quarter worth $125,536,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at $107,367,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 44.6% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,765,496 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $312,864,000 after buying an additional 544,920 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Company Profile

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.