Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,339 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 579 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $2,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 407.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,666,672,000 after buying an additional 12,825,586 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,839,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $560,420,000 after buying an additional 1,406,653 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Target by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,194,231 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $542,020,000 after buying an additional 370,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Target by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,028,486 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $420,413,000 after buying an additional 229,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Target from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Target from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Target from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital set a $95.00 price target on Target in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.48.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $88.04 on Friday. Target Corporation has a twelve month low of $86.30 and a twelve month high of $161.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $97.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.08.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The firm had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Target’s payout ratio is 53.15%.

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.