Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Boosts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,421 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $7,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $759,810,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 15,009.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,459 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 51,357.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,220,576 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,204 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,683,228 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $382,145,000 after purchasing an additional 984,464 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 valued at $1,447,538,000 after purchasing an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Citigroup raised Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Target in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $116.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.57.

Target Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:TGT traded down $2.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.74. 3,186,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,890,323. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Target Co. has a one year low of $102.93 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.06.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. 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.