Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 1,200 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Target were worth $3,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cynosure Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 4.3% during the third 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 period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in Target by 1.2% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in Target by 3.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Target by 0.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,444,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 1.1% in the third 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 during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.70.

Target Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $128.72 on Friday. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.20 and its 200 day moving average is $143.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Target 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.