Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Target (NYSE:TGT)

Target (NYSE:TGT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 target price on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 27.07% from the stock’s current price.

TGT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $153.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.52. Target has a fifty-two week low of $124.88 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

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. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Target will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TAP Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Target in the third quarter valued at about $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Target by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,793,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 20.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,484,000 after acquiring an additional 36,941 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Target by 166.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Target during the 1st quarter worth about $107,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.