Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 91,357 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,144,828 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,357 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $425,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 1,789 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in Target by 109.0% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its position in Target by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter worth about $5,443,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Target by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 93,828 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,684,000 after acquiring an additional 28,435 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $117.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Co. has a one year low of $112.53 and a one year high of $181.86. The stock has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.09.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. On average, analysts predict 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 was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on TGT. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.43.

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.