Target (NYSE:TGT) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at Daiwa Capital Markets

Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Daiwa Capital Markets currently has $130.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $170.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.30.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

TGT opened at $130.09 on Tuesday. Target has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.78. The firm has a market cap of $59.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Target will post 8.6 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Target by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Company Profile

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.