Target (NYSE:TGT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TGT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Target stock opened at $125.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.27 and a 200 day moving average of $149.69. Target has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.28%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.