Sei Investments Co. Cuts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 240,899 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19,188 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.05% of Target worth $35,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Little House Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 1st quarter worth $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Target by 23.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $112,686,000 after acquiring an additional 122,706 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Target by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at $13,958,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in Target by 134.6% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 103,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 59,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on TGT. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.69.

Target Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:TGT opened at $155.29 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $148.56 and a 200-day moving average of $154.74. 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 $71.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The company 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 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.