Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,184 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Target were worth $3,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Target from $191.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.57.

Target Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Target stock traded up $2.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $144.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,473,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,887,753. The stock has a market cap of $66.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.19. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $102.93 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.28%.

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.