Advocate Group LLC Boosts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Advocate Group LLC raised its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,482 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the quarter. Target comprises 1.6% of Advocate Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $8,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after acquiring an additional 417,818 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Target by 17.5% in the 1st 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Target by 16.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $461,031,000 after purchasing an additional 435,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.69.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $155.17. The company had a trading volume of 453,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,971,192. The stock has a market cap of $71.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $105.23 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 fifty day simple moving average of $149.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.60.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.