Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys New Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 101,733 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $14,489,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 200.8% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 361 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE TGT opened at $156.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $72.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.30. Target Co. has a one year low of $102.93 and a one year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

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.