abrdn plc Cuts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

abrdn plc lessened its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 620,077 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 56,693 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Target were worth $83,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter worth $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Target by 8.6% in 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 grew its position in shares of Target by 47.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Polianta Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Target by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 10,300 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on TGT. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $135.57 on Wednesday. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $62.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.21. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. Target’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

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.