Sanford C. Bernstein Begins Coverage on Target (NYSE:TGT)

Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $168.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

TGT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research assumed coverage on Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $150.17 on Tuesday. Target has a 12 month low of $105.23 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $69.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $153.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.23. 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 (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Target will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’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 owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TGT. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Target by 864.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,613 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,205,000 after acquiring an additional 51,639 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Target in the first quarter valued at about $200,000. RMR Wealth Builders bought a new stake in Target in the first quarter valued at about $245,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Target by 27.8% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 13,802 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Target during the first quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Company Profile

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.