Target (NYSE:TGT) Cut to Hold at HSBC

HSBC downgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. HSBC currently has $138.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TGT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price 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, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $125.01 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.27 and a 200-day moving average of $149.69. Target has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after buying an additional 130,691 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Target by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 11.4% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after acquiring an additional 440,307 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.