InvesTrust Purchases Shares of 45,413 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 45,413 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,137,000. Target makes up about 1.7% of InvesTrust’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp boosted its position in Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after buying an additional 130,691 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Target by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,620,000 after acquiring an additional 62,916 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.57.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $138.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,532,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,976,534. The company has a market capitalization of $63.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.71. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.