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

Target (NYSE:TGT) was downgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $108.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $184.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price target indicates a potential downside of 11.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $121.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.92. Target has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The stock has a market cap of $56.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. This 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, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Target by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Target by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after acquiring an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.