Target (NYSE:TGT) Downgraded by Bank of America to "Neutral"

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $105.00 price target on the retailer's stock. Bank of America's target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.89% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on TGT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Target from $140.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.16.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $93.01 on Thursday. Target has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average is $97.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.93. 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 (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Target

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC raised its position in Target by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the retailer's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Target by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 445 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Target by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 18,593 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Napatree Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,609 shares of the retailer's stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 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.

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