Old Port Advisors Sells 284 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Old Port Advisors reduced its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,603 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Target were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Target by 9,940.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after buying an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 711.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,762,000 after buying an additional 768,479 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT traded up $2.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $137.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,419,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,545,802. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.87. The company has a market capitalization of $63.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.17.

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

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.