Kentucky Retirement Systems Purchases 23,649 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 82.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,186 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,649 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Target were worth $6,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 45,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Target from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Target from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Target from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.15.

Target Trading Up 1.3%

Target stock opened at $146.09 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.76. The company has a market capitalization of $66.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.98. Target Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.44 and a 12 month high of $147.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $25.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.24%.

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.