Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $139.00 to $142.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.22% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on TGT. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

Target Price Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $140.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Target by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Target by 8.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after buying an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Target by 47.5% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,834,000 after buying an additional 69,885 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its position in shares of Target by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 10,300 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.