Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Hold — 32 analysts rate Target as a "Hold" (3 sell, 18 hold, 11 buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $117.39, below the recent $129.06 share price, implying limited near‑term upside.
• Mixed quarterly results and guidance — Target beat EPS estimates ($2.44 vs $2.16) while revenue of $30.45B slightly missed and was down 1.5% YoY; the company guided Q1 2026 EPS of 1.30 and FY 2026 EPS of 7.50–8.50 (analysts forecast ~8.02).
• Shareholder return — Target announced a quarterly dividend of $1.14 ($4.56 annualized) for a ~3.5% yield, with a payout ratio of about 56%.

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eighteen have given a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.3929.

Several brokerages have issued reports on TGT. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Target from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Target from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Target from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,423,038.17. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,212,397 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,690,262,000 after purchasing an additional 286,499 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Target by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,772,533 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,692,265,000 after purchasing an additional 124,468 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,065,926 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,668,194,000 after purchasing an additional 561,898 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $605,507,000 after purchasing an additional 142,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $587,903,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:TGT opened at $129.06 on Friday. Target has a one year low of $83.44 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $120.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.01.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Target will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Target's payout ratio is 56.09%.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation NYSE: TGT is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.

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