15,000 Shares in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Acquired by Advent Capital Management DE

Advent Capital Management DE purchased a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 15,000 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,028,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at $757,892,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter worth about $297,122,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in Target by 8,114.3% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 728,934 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $98,538,000 after buying an additional 720,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Target by 23,464.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 605,618 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $81,867,000 after acquiring an additional 603,048 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.57.

Target Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $92.14 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $111.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.99. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $169.09. 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 has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.