Target (NYSE:TGT) Price Target Lowered to $139.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $167.00 to $139.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on TGT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.13.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $125.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $151.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.54. Target has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Target will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Target by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 9.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter worth approximately $245,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 303,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,799,000 after acquiring an additional 17,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Target by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,656 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,002,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by 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.