Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Naughton reiterated an Overweight rating and boosted his price target on Target (NYSE: TGT) to $76.00 (from $68.00) following Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.54 versus its initial guidanceof $0.40-$0.50.

Naughton commented, "On the call, management acknowledged that a marketing shift in the quarter added slightly less than half of the 9 cents of upside in the quarter implying results at the high end of guidance. In addition, management commented on trends quarter to date, noting the company is tracking ahead of its Q4 same-store sales guidance of +2%. Overall, it was a nice quarter, but we would not be surprised to see the stock appreciation moderate over the next few months until we get better clarity on the sustainability of the same store sales trends as expectations appear elevated for the easy Q4 comparison."

The firm raised FY 2015 EPS from $2.74 to $2.78 and FY 2016 EPS from $3.61 to $3.66

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Shares of Target closed at $72.50 yesterday.