AJOVista LLC Acquires Shares of 942 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

AJOVista LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 942 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $134,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Tower View Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Target by 82.8% in the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 200.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 361 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on TGT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Target from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,658.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Target Stock Down 0.1 %

TGT traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $158.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,802,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,973,106. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $102.93 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

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.