Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Procyon Advisors LLC cut its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,832 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 10,273 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 82.8% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 150.6% in the second quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 213 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in Target in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Target in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kenfarb & CO. lifted its holdings in Target by 81.3% in the second quarter. Kenfarb & CO. now owns 290 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TGT. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.73.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.05. The stock had a trading volume of 415,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,893,308. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.13. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $176.16.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Target

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.