SOL Capital Management CO Boosts Position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

SOL Capital Management CO increased its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,480 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Target were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Target by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,332,317,000 after buying an additional 470,990 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Target by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $726,814,000 after acquiring an additional 754,883 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on TGT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $97.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.06. The firm has a market cap of $44.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month high of $167.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. The business had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.23%.

Target Company 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.