Austin Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Austin Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,563 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 95,980.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,762,865,000 after purchasing an additional 18,518,448 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter worth about $725,870,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 37,301.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $187,832,000 after buying an additional 1,694,222 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 252.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,166,161 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $358,782,000 after buying an additional 1,551,551 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Target by 4.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,570,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,725,904,000 after buying an additional 1,529,881 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock traded up $2.45 on Thursday, hitting $177.12. 3,715,951 shares of the company were exchanged, 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $153.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $177.40.

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 return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company 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 company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Target from $125.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Target from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.73.

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.