Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Sells 132 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Target by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,093,000 after acquiring an additional 12,460 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $346,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Target by 207.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 8,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Target by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,601 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Target from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “inline” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.69.

Insider Activity

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

Target Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $155.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.74. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. 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 company has a market capitalization 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.