First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,070 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,443 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $2,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at $759,810,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Target in the first quarter valued at $335,870,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 15,009.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,244,000 after buying an additional 1,745,459 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,218,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 58.0% in 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. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Target from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $147.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $153.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.57.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $144.64. 904,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,872,108. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $145.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $66.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.19. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.