Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,627 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,468 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $6,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Target during the first quarter valued at approximately $335,870,000. Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $125,536,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $107,367,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 44.6% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,765,496 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $312,864,000 after purchasing an additional 544,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 17.5% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 470,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $154.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $71.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.48 and its 200-day moving average is $155.08. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is 50.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.68.

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.