Target (NYSE:TGT) Price Target Cut to $145.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Guggenheim from $180.00 to $145.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.04% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.07.

Target Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Target stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $121.81. The company had a trading volume of 9,751,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,261,723. The firm has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % 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 worth $8,290,995. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Target

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 43.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Target by 9.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the first quarter worth $245,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 6.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 303,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,799,000 after buying an additional 17,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Target by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,656 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.