Parkside Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Parkside Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,250 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Target by 566.4% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,775,981 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $956,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759,168 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 122,068.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,793,906 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $711,368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,982 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 27.5% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,423,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 953,518 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Target by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,191,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,073,719,000 after purchasing an additional 852,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Target by 70.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,749,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $255,285,000 after purchasing an additional 725,396 shares during the last quarter. 78.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.69.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 191,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,408,422.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $159.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $137.16 and a twelve month high of $254.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.27 and its 200-day moving average is $160.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.05.

Target (NYSE:TGT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The retailer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.49. Target had a return on equity of 25.63% and a net margin of 2.55%. The company had revenue of $31.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 72.24%.

Target Company Profile

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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.