9,539 Shares in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 9,539 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. State Street Corp raised its stake in Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,122,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,795,000 after purchasing an additional 737,384 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $113.74 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a one year low of $111.84 and a one year high of $181.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $131.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Target from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.87.

Target Company 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.