Target (NYSE:TGT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Target (NYSE:TGT) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

TGT has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Target from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price target on Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.87.

Target Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $104.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $127.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.71. Target has a fifty-two week low of $103.46 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $47.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $536,407,000 after buying an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,502,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.