Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,063 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 950 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in Target by 2.9% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,891,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Target by 82.8% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Target by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $73,819,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC grew its stake in Target by 109.9% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Gordon Haskett upped their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded down $2.76 on Tuesday, reaching $160.97. 3,534,148 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,681,370. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $166.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 valued at $8,819,598 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.