Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 103 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,358 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Target by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Target by 706.9% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on TGT shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $153.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.63. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $107.13 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

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.