Target (NYSE:TGT) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

TGT has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 target price on Target in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research downgraded Target from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.65.

Target Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $104.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.64. Target has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Target’s payout ratio is 49.23%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TGT. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 2,530.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 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.