Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 958 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,247 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,684 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Target by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 122,346 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,425,000 after purchasing an additional 51,217 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in shares of Target by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,903 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Target from $125.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

Target Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of TGT opened at $165.37 on Thursday. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $76.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $164.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.46.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,658.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 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.