Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Trims Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lessened its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,422 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,141 shares during the quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,166 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Target by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 3,464 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Target by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 59,917 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 15,944 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. 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 note on Wednesday, November 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Daiwa America cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

Target Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of TGT opened at $131.29 on Friday. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.98. The company has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

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.