Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Trims Stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated cut its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 7.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,214 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 186 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Target were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TGT. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its position in Target by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on Target in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.70.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 246,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Target stock opened at $95.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.01. The stock has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Target’s payout ratio is 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.