Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Increases Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 55,000 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,361 shares during the period. Target makes up approximately 1.9% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Target were worth $7,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at $757,892,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,122,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Target by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $536,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Target by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth about $182,882,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Trading Down 5.2%

NYSE TGT opened at $93.01 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.93. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $87.35 and a 12 month high of $167.40. 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 market capitalization of $42.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Target from $140.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Baird R W cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Target from $124.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.29.

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.