Marquette Asset Management LLC Purchases 139 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,457 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $93.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. 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 fifty day moving average price is $96.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.31. Target Co. has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Target from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.68.

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.