Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,911 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,401,142,000 after purchasing an additional 417,818 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Target by 9.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,531,846 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,525,000 after purchasing an additional 137,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $759,810,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Target by 4.6% during 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 during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $153.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Target from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.57.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $152.85. 2,666,913 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,912,414. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 31.91%. The company had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Target 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.