Raymond James & Associates Cuts Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,473,001 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,046 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.32% of Target worth $261,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter worth about $230,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 38.3% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,901 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,603,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,821 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,753,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lifted its position in Target by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 21,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,769,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.74. 2,085,518 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,821,609. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced 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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.27%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Profile

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.