Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 74,062 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,337 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Target were worth $7,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC grew its stake in Target by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC grew its stake in Target by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,609 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its stake 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 period. Finally, Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC grew its stake in Target by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 28,668 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,875,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research cut shares of Target from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has 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 MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.70.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $104.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Target Corporation has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.45.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 246,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Target

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.