Swedbank AB Has $104.77 Million Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 672,232 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Target were worth $104,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 9,940.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $311,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth about $335,870,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 711.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,762,000 after buying an additional 768,479 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Target by 11.4% in the 2nd 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 valued at $461,031,000 after acquiring an additional 435,229 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $125.01 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Target’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

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.