Target (NYSE:TGT) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its price target cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $145.00 to $130.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on TGT. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.23.

Target Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of TGT opened at $116.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.92. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a one year low of $112.53 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for 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%. Research analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Target by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $536,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased 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 in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is 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.