Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 637.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,705 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,982 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after buying an additional 417,818 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Target by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,447,538,000 after buying an additional 868,274 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,357,525,000 after purchasing an additional 137,180 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,873,399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $409,230,000 after buying an additional 125,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $153.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.61.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock traded down $1.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $144.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,817,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,921,771. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.33. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $66.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.