Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, nineteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.69.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TGT. UBS Group raised their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 0.00 % 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 worth $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Target by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 218,600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,247,000 after acquiring an additional 20,360 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its position in Target by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,697,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the 3rd quarter worth about $392,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the 3rd quarter worth about $819,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Target by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $158.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 1 year low of $105.23 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.52. 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. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Target will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 2.83%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.28%.

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.