Target (NYSE:TGT) Lowered to Hold Rating by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $108.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $184.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on TGT. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $125.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.61.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 9,940.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Target during the first quarter worth $335,870,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position 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. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.