Target (NYSE:TGT) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on TGT. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $152.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 1 year low of $127.19 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.54. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Target will post 9.54 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cynosure Group LLC lifted its stake in Target by 4.3% during the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in Target by 1.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Target by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 20.8% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 5.3% during the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.