Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,753 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,753 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Target by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,923,428,000 after purchasing an additional 702,565 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 26.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $747,699,000 after buying an additional 1,415,900 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Target by 2.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,146,067 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $569,001,000 after acquiring an additional 134,262 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Target by 8.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,569,969 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $394,739,000 after acquiring an additional 287,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 3.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,469,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $383,586,000 after acquiring an additional 127,491 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Target from $157.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upped their target price on Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

Target Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of TGT traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $159.59. 2,574,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,675,110. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.90. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. 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 market cap of $73.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Target Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Target Company 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.