Baldwin Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,291 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Target in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 156.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target 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 value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value 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 $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.30.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $130.11 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $59.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.44%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

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.