McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Lowers Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,099 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 723 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 470,647 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Target by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $461,031,000 after purchasing an additional 435,229 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $458,131,000 after purchasing an additional 272,521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.69.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock opened at $158.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $73.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $105.23 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.02.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. 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.