Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 187,896 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 801 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Target were worth $27,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Daiwa America upgraded Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.68.

Target Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of TGT opened at $148.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. Target Co. has a one year low of $102.93 and a one year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.