Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,611 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,173 shares during the quarter. Target accounts for 2.2% of Tufton Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Target were worth $10,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Services Automobile Association lifted its position in shares of Target by 2.9% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 82.8% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Target by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $73,819,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 109.9% during the fourth quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 14,274 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT stock traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $167.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,076,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,758,166. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.34. The company has a market capitalization of $77.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.27%.

Target Company Profile

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.