Target Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:TGT)

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 149,080 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 107% compared to the average daily volume of 71,941 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $95.00 target price on Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Target from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Target from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Target from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.48.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 2.7% during the second quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 965,219 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $95,219,000 after acquiring an additional 25,746 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,723 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $190,000. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,157,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 4.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 217,180 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,440,000 after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 1.1%

TGT stock opened at $89.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target has a 52 week low of $86.30 and a 52 week high of $161.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.80.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The company had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.15%.

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.