M&G PLC Lowers Position in Target Corporation $TGT

M&G PLC decreased its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,077 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 98,797 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Target were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Target in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Target by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 346 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Target by 1,113.8% in the 2nd quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Target from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Target from $107.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Target from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $88.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.45.

Target Stock Up 0.6%

TGT stock opened at $116.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.91 and a 200-day moving average of $97.10. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $131.70. The company has a market capitalization of $52.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.44 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th 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 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.34%.

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.