Meyer Handelman Co. Sells 1,567 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Meyer Handelman Co. lowered its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,435 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,567 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $6,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Target by 1.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Target by 8.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Target by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,834,000 after acquiring an additional 69,885 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter worth about $967,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.57.

Target Trading Down 1.9 %

TGT opened at $136.18 on Wednesday. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $137.06 and its 200-day moving average is $145.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 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 firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Target’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

Target Company 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.