Fmr LLC Boosts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Fmr LLC grew its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,555,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 2.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Target by 3.7% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 549,363 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $85,624,000 after buying an additional 19,790 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 3.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the third quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Target by 5.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 33,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,223,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.30.

Target Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE TGT opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.31 and its 200 day moving average is $149.05.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 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.