Haverford Trust Co Sells 255 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,489 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Target were worth $4,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Target in the third quarter valued at about $644,000. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Target during the third quarter worth about $436,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 13.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 176,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $27,522,000 after buying an additional 21,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 25.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 8,803 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TGT shares. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.55.

Target Stock Up 4.2 %

NYSE:TGT opened at $108.43 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $101.76 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $125.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.62. The stock has a market cap of $49.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

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.