Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 561 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lessened its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,988 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Target were worth $1,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,923,428,000 after buying an additional 702,565 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Target by 26.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $747,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,900 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Target by 2.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,146,067 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $569,001,000 after purchasing an additional 134,262 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Target by 8.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,569,969 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $394,739,000 after purchasing an additional 287,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Target by 3.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,469,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $383,586,000 after purchasing an additional 127,491 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett upped their price target on shares of Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded down $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.41. 770,968 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,722,329. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.86. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

Target 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.