Target (NYSE:TGT) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $130.00 target price on the retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $188.00.

TGT has been the subject of several other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $125.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.69. The stock has a market capitalization 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cynosure Group LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Target by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is 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.