Target (NYSE:TGT) Price Target Lowered to $145.00 at Guggenheim

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price target lowered by Guggenheim from $180.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.07.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $121.81. 9,751,223 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,261,723. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $152.33 and its 200-day moving average is $150.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The stock has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. Target’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Target by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 9,940.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Target during the 1st quarter worth approximately $335,870,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Target by 173.2% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd 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 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.