Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Target (NYSE:TGT)

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 44,303 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 59% compared to the average volume of 27,924 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. This trade represents a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 245.6% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 134.9% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Evercore set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Target from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Target from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.15.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT traded up $2.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $146.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,140,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,542,899. Target has a 52-week low of $83.44 and a 52-week high of $147.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.66 and a 200 day moving average of $122.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $66.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $25.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Target will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.24%.

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.