Financial Counselors Inc. Purchases 155 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 142,366 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $22,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Target by 156.5% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE TGT opened at $130.11 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.92. Target Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $59.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’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. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.30.

About Target

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.