Swiss National Bank Increases Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,373,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Target worth $214,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 9,940.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Target during the first quarter worth about $335,870,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 711.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,762,000 after acquiring an additional 768,479 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Target during the first quarter valued at $107,367,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Target by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after buying an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % 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 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $152.13 on Monday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $152.56 and a 200 day moving average of $150.34. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $127.19 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.28%.

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.