Simmons Bank Sells 70 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Simmons Bank reduced its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,691 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Target in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in Target by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

Target Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE TGT opened at $153.46 on Friday. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $124.88 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $152.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.52.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued 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 2.92%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.