Target (NYSE:TGT) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Bank of America from $195.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 29.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on TGT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Melius Research initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.90.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $123.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,208,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,241,623. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.12. The company has a market capitalization of $56.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released 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). Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 9,940.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $311,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,458 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at $335,870,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Target by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other 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.