Target Corporation $TGT Stock Position Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 51,444,338 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,607,982 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Target worth $5,074,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Target by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Target by 2,530.0% in the second quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $85.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.02. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $85.30 and a 1 year high of $145.08. The firm has a market cap of $39.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $25.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.44 billion. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Target in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Target from $117.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.45.

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.