Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 7,120 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,959 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,120 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 101.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 39.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 38,712 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,040,000 after purchasing an additional 11,047 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 22.8% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,660 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,872,000 after purchasing an additional 12,948 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 8.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,860 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,832,000 after purchasing an additional 14,195 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 11.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 272,787 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,910,000 after purchasing an additional 27,063 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $130.06 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $118.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.36. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $130.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $30.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 EPS. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TGT. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Target from $63.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Target from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Target from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho set a $120.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.68.

Target Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.