Investors Buy Large Volume of Target Call Options (NYSE:TGT)

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 74,141 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average daily volume of 54,941 call options.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $135.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.52. 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 has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Target will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Target

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Target by 156.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.30.

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.