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

Target (NYSE:TGT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

TGT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Capital set a $122.00 price objective on Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Target from $146.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.55.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock opened at $104.29 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $125.89 and a 200-day moving average of $138.13. The firm has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a 12-month low of $101.76 and a 12-month high of $181.86. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $757,892,000. State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Target by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $536,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,502,200 shares in the last quarter. 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.