United Asset Strategies Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,615 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Target by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,401,142,000 after acquiring an additional 417,818 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Target by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,447,538,000 after acquiring an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Target by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,525,000 after acquiring an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at $759,810,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Target by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 470,647 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Target from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “inline” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.68.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $153.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. Target’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

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.