Ethic Inc. Sells 39,832 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 42,714 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 39,832 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $5,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Target by 175.3% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Target by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 257 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Target by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.20.

Target Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $96.39 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $87.35 and a 1 year high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

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.