Target (NYSE:TGT) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Target (NYSE:TGT) was downgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $130.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $188.00. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.86% from the company’s previous close.

TGT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $121.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.92. Target has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $56.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Target in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during 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.