iSAM Funds UK Ltd Makes New Investment in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,461 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Target by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after buying an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 11.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after buying an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1.9% during 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 valued at $517,620,000 after buying an additional 62,916 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.30.

Target Stock Up 2.5 %

TGT opened at $132.41 on Friday. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.78. The company has a market cap of $60.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.