Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 23,741 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 395,076 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,741 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Target worth $61,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Target by 1.2% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Target by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Target by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 9.7% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 806 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

Target Trading Down 0.9 %

TGT opened at $152.13 on Friday. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $127.19 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.39.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.