Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,138 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $3,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 3,577.5% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,471 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 131.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 191.5% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after buying an additional 7,748 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.73.

Target Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $177.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.65. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $177.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction 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 worth $8,819,598 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Target Company 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.