Target (NYSE:TGT) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Tigress Financial raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $210.00. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Target traded as high as $176.16 and last traded at $174.98, with a volume of 201253 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $174.67.

TGT has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.73.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Target by 95,980.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,762,865,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,448 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth $759,810,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 15,009.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $250,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,459 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Target by 37,301.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $187,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,222 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Target by 252.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,166,161 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $358,782,000 after buying an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.36. The company has a market cap of $80.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.27%.

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.