Optas LLC Purchases Shares of 5,724 Target Corporation $TGT

Optas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,724 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $560,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Target by 12.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,925,898 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,195,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Target by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,648,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,377,031,000 after acquiring an additional 911,964 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Target by 2.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,051,151 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $453,050,000 after acquiring an additional 122,300 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Target by 10.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,910,163 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $350,742,000 after acquiring an additional 360,781 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Target by 0.8% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,309,746 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $296,884,000 after acquiring an additional 25,989 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Target from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $91.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Mizuho set a $120.00 price objective on Target in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Target from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.39.

Target Trading Up 1.6%

TGT opened at $132.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $59.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.03. Target Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.44 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.59 and a 200 day moving average of $104.67.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 3.54%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.09%.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.