Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Invests $49,000 in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 317 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Norden Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 1st quarter worth approximately $248,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Target by 75.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,516 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Target by 10.9% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 95,700 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,959,000 after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $149.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.84. 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 12-month low of $105.23 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $69.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Target’s payout ratio is 46.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.