Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Cuts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,336 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,923,428,000 after acquiring an additional 702,565 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Target by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $747,699,000 after buying an additional 1,415,900 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Target by 2.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,146,067 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $569,001,000 after purchasing an additional 134,262 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Target by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,569,969 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $394,739,000 after purchasing an additional 287,748 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Target by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,469,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $383,586,000 after buying an additional 127,491 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

Target Price Performance

TGT opened at $163.73 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $75.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.87.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. 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 2.69%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

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.