New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 401 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT – Get Rating) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 87,271 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $13,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,833,900 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,356,122,000 after purchasing an additional 358,425 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,191,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,073,719,000 after purchasing an additional 852,361 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,177,540 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,213,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,559 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,312,494 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $791,774,000 after purchasing an additional 407,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,983 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $759,207,000 after purchasing an additional 300,077 shares in the last quarter. 78.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT traded down $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $137.88. 1,897,703 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,296,521. The stock has a market cap of $63.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.51. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $137.16 and a 12 month high of $183.89.

Target (NYSE:TGT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 17th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $24.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.28 billion. Target had a return on equity of 24.49% and a net margin of 2.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.29 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 16th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.98, for a total value of $5,564,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 191,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,408,422.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.98, for a total value of $5,564,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 191,272 shares in the company, valued at $30,408,422.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.75, for a total value of $234,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,491. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen lowered their price target on Target from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. TheStreet raised Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on Target from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.69.

About Target

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Target Corp. engages in the operation and ownership of general merchandise stores. It offers food assortments including perishables, dry grocery, dairy, and frozen items. The company was founded by George Draper Dayton in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.