Hilltop Holdings Inc. Purchases 8,061 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 287.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,870 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,061 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $1,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,212,397 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,690,262,000 after purchasing an additional 286,499 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Target by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,772,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,692,265,000 after buying an additional 124,468 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Target by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,065,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,668,194,000 after buying an additional 561,898 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $605,507,000 after buying an additional 142,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $587,903,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on TGT shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $132.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Target from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.15.

Target Stock Performance

TGT opened at $136.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.98. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.44 and a 52-week high of $144.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $130.97 and its 200-day moving average is $121.80.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $25.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.66 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.Target’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. Target’s payout ratio is 60.24%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Target Profile

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.