RIA Advisory Group LLC Acquires New Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,545 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its position in shares of Target by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 9,837 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Target by 146.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,729 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Target by 43.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lcnb Corp lifted its stake in Target by 9.0% in the first quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 1,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. 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 on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $152.13 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $127.19 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

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.