Oppenheimer Has Lowered Expectations for Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock Price

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.71% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Target from $146.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.73.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $115.64. 1,262,507 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,780,284. Target has a 1-year low of $112.53 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at $757,892,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Target by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $536,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.