Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,489 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $409,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in Target by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,891,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth about $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 82.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Target by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $73,819,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC boosted its stake in Target by 109.9% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 14,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $206.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Target Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE TGT traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $160.69. The company had a trading volume of 821,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,655,793. The stock has a market cap of $74.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $166.79 and its 200-day moving average is $145.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

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 net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 49.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.