Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,658 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,505 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.06% of Target worth $36,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Salus Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Target by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,666 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Target by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 557,897 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $75,416,000 after acquiring an additional 9,329 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 43,037 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 4,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth about $438,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.13.

Target Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:TGT opened at $98.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.65. The company has a market capitalization of $44.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

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.