Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 102.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,639 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,377 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Target were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Target by 10.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,267,577 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $113,702,000 after purchasing an additional 124,371 shares during the period. Winning Points Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $611,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $605,507,000 after buying an additional 142,937 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Target by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 342,487 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,721,000 after purchasing an additional 45,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Target by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 155,222 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,173,000 after buying an additional 10,839 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Target from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Target from $140.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus set a $150.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.64.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $140.23 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $63.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.00. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $142.82.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 60.24%.

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.