Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 289,081 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,187,295 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 289,081 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.26% of Target worth $161,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Target by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,834,000 after purchasing an additional 69,885 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Target in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $967,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after buying an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Stock Up 2.4 %

TGT stock opened at $139.08 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.76. The company has a market cap of $63.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

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.