Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,736 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12,139 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Target were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter worth $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Target by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 346 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Target by 1,113.8% during the 2nd quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $115.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.36. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.44 and a 52-week high of $130.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.44 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 55.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Target from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Target from $117.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 target price on Target in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Target from $107.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.45.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.