Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Trillium Asset Management LLC

Trillium Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 66.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,679 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 208,552 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $10,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 951.4% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 389 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Target from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Target from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 246,453 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 1.3%

TGT opened at $104.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $101.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 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.