BNP Paribas Purchases Shares of 1,700 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,700 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 2.8 %

TGT opened at $130.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.84 and a 200-day moving average of $148.92. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.30.

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.