Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Optas LLC

Optas LLC decreased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,415 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TGT. Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Target by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,034 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 22,151 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. NavPoint Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. NavPoint Financial Inc. now owns 14,475 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Target by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 115,091 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,558,000 after purchasing an additional 26,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Target by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 147 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 research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Stock Up 1.1 %

Target stock opened at $135.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $134.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.21. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

About Target

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.