M&G Plc Purchases Shares of 24,664 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 24,664 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Target by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after buying an additional 417,818 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Target by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,447,538,000 after buying an additional 868,274 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,357,525,000 after purchasing an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $759,810,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 470,647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Target from $170.00 to $147.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Target from $191.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.39.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT traded up $1.64 on Tuesday, reaching $136.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,973,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,878,238. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.44.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The business had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

About Target

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.