Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock Price

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price target trimmed by Bank of America from $195.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on TGT. HSBC lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of TGT opened at $125.01 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.27 and its 200 day moving average is $149.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Target will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TAP Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 8.7% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Target by 3.4% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243,928 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $193,879,000 after purchasing an additional 41,394 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 20.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the third quarter worth about $1,937,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.