Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Purchases 7,036 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,581 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,036 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Target were worth $33,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Target by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 278,410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,635,000 after purchasing an additional 54,710 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. bought a new position in Target in the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 8,114.3% in the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 728,934 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $98,538,000 after acquiring an additional 720,060 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of Target by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 21,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 8,403 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KGI Securities set a $132.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.03.

Target Trading Down 5.2 %

TGT opened at $92.57 on Friday. Target Co. has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $173.05. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

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.