Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Stock Position Boosted by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,266 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its position in Target by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Target by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,459,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its position in Target by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,940,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Target by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TGT. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Target from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Target and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.97.

Target Price Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $94.30 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.76. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors 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 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.23%.

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.