Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Purchases 1,150 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 56.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,187 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Target by 101.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Target by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Target by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 1,836 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in Target by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 181,500 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,535,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:TGT opened at $99.38 on Friday. Target Corporation has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $167.40. The company has a market cap of $45.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share 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 net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Cfra Research lowered shares of Target from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Capital set a $122.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Target from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.70.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.