Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases 11,054 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 331.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,387 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,054 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Target were worth $2,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Target by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,044 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after acquiring an additional 130,691 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Target by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 11.4% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $134.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.17. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $144.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.21.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

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.