Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Stock Position Increased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 43.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,918 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,146 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $6,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after buying an additional 417,818 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Target by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,447,538,000 after acquiring an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,525,000 after acquiring an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $409,230,000 after purchasing an additional 125,489 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Gordon Haskett upped their target price on Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $116.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.57.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT traded down $3.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,948,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,866,164. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.39. The stock has a market cap of $67.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 31.91%. The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.