Brokerages Set Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Target Price at $157.93

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirty-two research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $145.87.

TGT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. HSBC cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Target from $166.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $536,407,000 after buying an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Target by 173.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after buying an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $113.74 on Tuesday. Target has a one year low of $111.84 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.63 and a 200 day moving average of $141.07. The firm has a market cap of $52.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

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.