Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by GM Advisory Group LLC

GM Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,472 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 641 shares during the quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after acquiring an additional 417,818 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after buying an additional 440,307 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Target by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $558,898,000 after buying an additional 470,647 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Target by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $461,031,000 after buying an additional 435,229 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $458,131,000 after buying an additional 272,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.68.

Target Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $156.52 on Friday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.05.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.