1,563 Shares in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Purchased by Austin Private Wealth LLC

Austin Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,563 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballast Inc. increased its stake in Target by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 10,988 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Target by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 5,196 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Gordon Haskett raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $177.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,715,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,948,292. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.95 and a 200-day moving average of $134.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $177.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

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.