Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 648,623 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 49,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Target were worth $92,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 shares were 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 owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 have sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:TGT traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, hitting $166.66. 547,808 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,719,337. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $76.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $206.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

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.