Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC Sells 1,550 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC decreased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 5.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,054 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.70.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $97.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.16. The company has a market cap of $44.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.23%.

About Target

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.