Davis R M Inc. Has $359,000 Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Davis R M Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,302 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Target by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. TAP Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 3.4% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243,928 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $193,879,000 after buying an additional 41,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Target by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,484,000 after buying an additional 36,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.63.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $130.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.82 and a 200 day moving average of $149.31. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.