Target (NYSE:TGT) Price Target Lowered to $130.00 at Evercore ISI

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price target decreased by Evercore ISI from $165.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa America upgraded Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $125.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.61. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 43.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Target by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter valued at $245,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 303,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,799,000 after purchasing an additional 17,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 4.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,656 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently 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.