Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 42.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,982 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,448 shares during the quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,923,428,000 after purchasing an additional 702,565 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Target by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,570,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,725,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,881 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 95,980.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,762,865,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,448 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Target by 1.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,300,283 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,371,516,000 after purchasing an additional 80,027 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 26.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $747,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on TGT. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. HSBC raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.73.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock traded up $2.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $176.85. 1,969,231 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,916,228. The stock has a market cap of $81.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.23 and its 200 day moving average is $134.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $102.93 and a 52-week high of $177.22.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

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.