Target (NYSE:TGT) Given New $165.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price target trimmed by Evercore ISI from $170.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $149.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target has a one year low of $105.23 and a one year high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.26.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Target will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 56.1% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Target by 0.6% in the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,773 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 20.8% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 5.3% in the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Target by 0.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in 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.