Target’s (TGT) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reissued their neutral rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $153.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Target from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $180.41.

Target Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $145.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $164.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.13. Target has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,401,142,000 after acquiring an additional 417,818 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,357,525,000 after purchasing an additional 137,180 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $747,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,900 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $759,810,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.