6,203 Shares in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Purchased by Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,203 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $967,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Target by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after acquiring an additional 9,510 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 3.4% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243,928 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $193,879,000 after purchasing an additional 41,394 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.31 and a 200-day moving average of $149.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $58.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.