Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,247 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 958 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Target by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Target by 82.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Target by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $73,819,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC grew its holdings in Target by 109.9% during the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after buying an additional 14,274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $165.37 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.85 and a 200 day moving average of $142.46. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Target from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

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.