Target (NYSE:TGT) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TGT. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Daiwa America upgraded Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $125.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.61. Target has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid 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 is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TAP Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Target by 8.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243,928 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $193,879,000 after acquiring an additional 41,394 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Target by 20.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in Target by 166.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.