Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 41,723 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 245.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 58,725 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,723 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Target were worth $7,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 worth $517,620,000 after purchasing an additional 62,916 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,053,471 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $475,914,000 after purchasing an additional 56,695 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $131.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 2.04 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 50-day simple moving average of $135.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.80.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released 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). The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.70.

About Target

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.