NBC Securities Inc. Acquires 4,177 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 208,850.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,179 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Target by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,532,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Target by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 470,990 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Target by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $726,814,000 after purchasing an additional 754,883 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE TGT opened at $93.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.56. Target Co. has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Baird R W cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (down from $131.00) on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.70.

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.