Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,193 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,408 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $7,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,456,000 after buying an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Target by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after buying an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Target by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,620,000 after buying an additional 62,916 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TGT. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.23.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $133.62 on Friday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.23.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

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.