Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Acquired by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,522 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Target were worth $22,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after buying an additional 417,818 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Target by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after acquiring an additional 868,274 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,357,525,000 after acquiring an additional 137,180 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Target by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $409,230,000 after purchasing an additional 125,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $145.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $67.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett upped their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.61.

About Target

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.