Larson Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,760 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,803 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Target by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 11,040 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Target in the first quarter worth about $2,127,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,583 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its stake in Target by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 24,215 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.13.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

TGT opened at $125.01 on Monday. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.54.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.