Target (NYSE:TGT) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $130.00 price target on the retailer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $188.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $125.01 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $151.27 and a 200 day moving average of $149.69. Target has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 46.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. 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.