Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,001,404 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 291,766 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.66% of Target worth $392,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Target during the second quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $151,410.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,266 shares in the company, valued at $2,005,613.66. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at $5,782,127.70. This represents a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $163.20 on Wednesday. Target Corporation has a one year low of $83.44 and a one year high of $170.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The retailer reported $4.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $1.76. Target had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 23.23%. The company had revenue of $26.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Target’s payout ratio is 48.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Target from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research set a $169.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Target from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.52.

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.