Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 648,623 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 49,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Target worth $92,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 15,009.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,459 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Target by 37,301.2% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $187,832,000 after buying an additional 1,694,222 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Target by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $747,699,000 after buying an additional 1,415,900 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Target by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,839,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $313,925,000 after buying an additional 1,022,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,075,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Target from $125.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

Target Price Performance

Target stock traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, reaching $166.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 547,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,719,337. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $76.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.86. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.27%.

About Target

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.