Northern Trust Corp Acquires 754,883 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,376,640 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 754,883 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.17% of Target worth $726,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 175.3% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.37.

Target Stock Down 0.2 %

TGT opened at $96.37 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The company has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.12.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

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.