West Michigan Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

West Michigan Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 43.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,833 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Target by 173.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,795,000 after buying an additional 737,384 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at $106,493,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Daiwa America lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $157.93.

Target Trading Up 1.5 %

TGT stock opened at $124.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.15. 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 one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $133.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.39.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.