Target (NYSE:TGT) Downgraded by Daiwa Capital Markets to Neutral

Target (NYSE:TGT) was downgraded by stock analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $130.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $170.00. Daiwa Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.38% from the stock’s previous close.

TGT has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.30.

Target Trading Up 4.4 %

TGT opened at $130.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $60.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.82 and a 200-day moving average of $149.31. Target has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $25.23 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Target by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.