Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 35.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,433 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,761 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $1,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Target by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Target by 11.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 470,647 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Target by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $461,031,000 after acquiring an additional 435,229 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 9.7% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $458,131,000 after acquiring an additional 272,521 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $153.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.52. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $124.88 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

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.