Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $17.43 Million Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 72.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,346 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,217 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Target were worth $17,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,629 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 4,323 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 19,196 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 56,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 worth $8,819,598 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Target from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett increased their price objective on Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $167.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,143,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,761,215. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

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.