Target (NYSE:TGT) CAO Matthew Liegel Sells 2,053 Shares of Stock

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) CAO Matthew Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,038.17. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $114.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $112.97 and its 200 day moving average is $99.51. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 3.54%.Target’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 56.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Target by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,444,338 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,074,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,607,982 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $587,903,000. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $257,571,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 243.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,870,210 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $280,563,000 after buying an additional 2,035,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Target by 6,639.1% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,912,963 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $186,992,000 after buying an additional 1,884,577 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on TGT. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Target from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Target from $102.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.32.

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.