Target (NYSE:TGT) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.63.

Target Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $130.50 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.31. Target has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $60.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cynosure Group LLC grew its position in Target by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Target by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Target by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Target by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Target by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.