Abel Hall LLC Takes Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,946 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $4,923,428,000 after buying an additional 702,565 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Target by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after buying an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,357,525,000 after buying an additional 137,180 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 26.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $747,699,000 after buying an additional 1,415,900 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth about $759,810,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Target from $178.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Gordon Haskett raised their price objective on shares of Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $153.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.11.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT traded down $3.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $141.16. 5,019,720 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,917,518. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.42. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $102.93 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $65.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.