J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 3,460 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,460 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. TAP Consulting LLC bought a new position in Target during the third quarter worth $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Target by 8.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,484,000 after acquiring an additional 36,941 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 166.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 1st quarter valued at $107,367,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE TGT opened at $152.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $127.19 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $152.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. 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 research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Target 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.