Aspiriant LLC Has $219,000 Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Aspiriant LLC increased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after acquiring an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Target by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $517,620,000 after purchasing an additional 62,916 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.23.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $137.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $135.74 and its 200-day moving average is $145.07.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 47.51%.

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.