Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 21,008 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 176,584 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 21,008 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $27,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 7.7% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 11,040 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,127,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Target by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Target by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,583 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalerock Point Partners LLC raised its holdings in Target by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 24,215 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $125.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.27 and a 200-day moving average of $149.54. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 47.51%.

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.