Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Purchased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,199 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 710 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $5,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Target by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after acquiring an additional 9,510 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Target by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,834,000 after acquiring an additional 69,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polianta Ltd lifted its stake in Target by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 10,300 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Daiwa America cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Target from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.70.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $134.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.33.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 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.