Ruffer LLP Buys New Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,456 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in Target by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 292 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Target by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 346 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Target from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Target from $90.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Evercore set a $125.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, February 27th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $132.32 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.67. The company has a market cap of $59.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 EPS. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Target’s payout ratio is 56.09%.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.