Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Acquired by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 62.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,926 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,403 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Target were worth $2,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its position in Target by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,699,000 after purchasing an additional 138,751 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,459,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Target by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.03.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $97.42 on Thursday. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $173.05. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.73.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Target Company 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.