Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock Price

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective trimmed by Bank of America from $195.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. 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 issued 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 price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 1.9 %

Target stock traded up $2.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $123.90. 1,622,880 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,293,558. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $151.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.92. The firm has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Target’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 5.6% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 11,760 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter worth approximately $326,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Target by 234.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,237 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 4.8% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 8,140 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.