Fmr LLC Buys 1,358,348 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 2.47% of Target worth $1,532,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Target by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,806 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Target by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 440,664 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $68,682,000 after purchasing an additional 119,214 shares during the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC boosted its stake in Target by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 28,583 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,455,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Target by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 85,826 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,377,000 after buying an additional 3,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $95.70 on Monday. 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 $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $90.62 and a 12-month high of $173.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.60.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Target from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Target from $134.00 to $124.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.24.

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.