Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Acquired by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance increased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 32.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,219 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Target were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Target by 95,980.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,762,865,000 after buying an additional 18,518,448 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $725,870,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 15,009.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,244,000 after buying an additional 1,745,459 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Target by 37,301.2% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $187,832,000 after buying an additional 1,694,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Target by 252.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,166,161 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $358,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:TGT opened at $164.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $162.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.34. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $75.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.85.

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.