Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Piscataqua Savings Bank

Piscataqua Savings Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,860 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cynosure Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Target by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Target by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Target by 0.4% during the third 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, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.57.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $137.99 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $63.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.79.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s 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.