FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Decreases Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,869 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Target were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,401,142,000 after purchasing an additional 417,818 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Target by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after acquiring an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Target by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,525,000 after purchasing an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $409,230,000 after purchasing an additional 125,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Target stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $145.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,024,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,915,472. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $67.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.33.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $191.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.61.

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.