Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. cut its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,085 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 822 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TAP Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Target by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Target by 20.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its position in Target by 166.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Target during the first quarter valued at about $107,367,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Target Stock Up 2.9 %

TGT stock opened at $156.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.68 and a 200 day moving average of $150.33. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $128.37 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

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.