Target (NYSE:TGT) Shares Up 0.4%

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) shares shot up 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $153.74 and last traded at $152.39. 1,163,531 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 4,025,041 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Daiwa America upgraded Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.68.

Target Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $70.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.05.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Target’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after purchasing an additional 417,818 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Target by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after acquiring an additional 868,274 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,525,000 after acquiring an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $759,810,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Target by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.