Target (NYSE:TGT) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has a $165.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

TGT has been the subject of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.30.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

TGT opened at $130.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.78.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted 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 net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 yield of 3.44%. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. 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.