Target’s (TGT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TGT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $152.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target has a 52-week low of $127.19 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.56 and a 200 day moving average of $150.39.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Target by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Target by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after acquiring an additional 130,691 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Target by 11.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after acquiring an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.