Advocate Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,997 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,543 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $6,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Target by 101.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Target by 105.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,680 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 11,142 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in Target by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Target during the 1st quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Target by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 8,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Target from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Loop Capital set a $95.00 price target on Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Target from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.65.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $85.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $38.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.89. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $85.36 and a 1-year high of $161.50.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Target’s payout ratio is currently 53.15%.

Target 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.