Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Buys 266 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,326 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Target accounts for about 1.0% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Target were worth $8,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Target by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,401,142,000 after buying an additional 417,818 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Target by 9.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 868,274 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Target by 1.5% during the fourth 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 purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Target by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $409,230,000 after buying an additional 125,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Target from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Target from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.61.

Target Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $0.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $144.55. 655,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,907,696. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.86. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $152.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.02). The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

About Target

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.