Strategy Asset Managers LLC Buys 174 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,145 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth $757,892,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Target by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,832,585 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $518,089,000 after buying an additional 234,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Target by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,144,828 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $425,118,000 after buying an additional 91,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE:TGT opened at $103.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.46. The firm has a market cap of $47.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.76 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on TGT. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.40.

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.