Target (NYSE:TGT) PT Lowered to $180.00 at Morgan Stanley

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on TGT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Target from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $178.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $180.41.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $145.23 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.13. The company has a market capitalization of $67.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.16. Target has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 31.91%. Target’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Target will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 56.1% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.6% in the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,773 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,130 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Target by 0.3% during the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 27,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.