Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,383 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TGT. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Target by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC increased its holdings in Target by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 8,455 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Target by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 580 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 3.4% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Target by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,478 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.96, for a total value of $2,634,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 56,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,490.76. This represents a 21.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $151,410.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,005,613.66. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on TGT. Robert W. Baird set a $170.00 price target on Target in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Target from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Target from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Target from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.52.

Target Stock Up 1.8%

TGT stock opened at $163.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Target Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.44 and a 12 month high of $170.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.64.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The retailer reported $4.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $1.76. The company had revenue of $26.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.13 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 23.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.18%.

Target Profile

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.