Brighton Jones LLC Sells 219 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Brighton Jones LLC trimmed its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,477 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 56.1% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in Target during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Retirement Group LLC grew its position in Target by 85.0% during the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 198 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Target in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on TGT. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $116.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $154.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.48 and a 200 day moving average of $154.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

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

Target Profile

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.