Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC Boosts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,604 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,425 shares during the quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $3,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Target by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,605 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at $3,397,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Target by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,577 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Target by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 320 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stolper Co grew its stake in Target by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Stolper Co now owns 13,287 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research began 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.07.

Target Stock Down 1.1 %

TGT opened at $133.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $136.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.16.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. 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.