Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $20.70 Million Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,159 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 28,468 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $20,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Mirador Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth $3,397,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Target by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,577 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 320 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Stolper Co raised its position in shares of Target by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Stolper Co now owns 13,287 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

Target Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $133.06 on Friday. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.31. 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 company has a market cap of $60.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

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.