Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 21.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 738,216 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 198,814 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Target were worth $66,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Target by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,925,898 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,195,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Target by 4.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,736,101 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,624,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,026 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 1.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,247,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,602,825,000 after purchasing an additional 277,176 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the second quarter worth $578,009,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Target by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,051,151 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $453,050,000 after purchasing an additional 122,300 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Stock Up 0.5%

TGT opened at $120.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $126.00.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $30.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 3.54%.The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 56.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Target from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Target from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $110.00 to $145.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Target from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Target from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.45.

About Target

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.