Target (NYSE:TGT) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Target (NYSE:TGT) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on TGT. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

TGT opened at $153.32 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $70.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.63. Target has a 52-week low of $107.13 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 156.5% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $37,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.