Rockland Trust Co. Sells 566 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Rockland Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,450 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 11.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Target by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after buying an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,620,000 after buying an additional 62,916 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Daiwa America lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.57.

Target Stock Down 1.9 %

Target stock opened at $136.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.06 and its 200-day moving average is $145.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 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.