Empirical Finance LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,078 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 156.5% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $152.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $127.19 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. Analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company 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 is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.28%.

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.