Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,632 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 11,465 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Target were worth $14,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 56.1% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 0.6% in the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,773 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 20.8% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 5.3% in the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,130 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

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

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $156.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.05. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.