Bender Robert & Associates Takes Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Bender Robert & Associates purchased a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,450 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Target by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Target by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Target by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $73,819,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 109.9% during the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,883,000 after buying an additional 14,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TGT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Target Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Target stock traded up $2.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $166.58. The stock had a trading volume of 3,107,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,786,930. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.34.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.27%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target 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 approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.