Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 17,748 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,593 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,748 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Target worth $53,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,945,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,401,142,000 after purchasing an additional 417,818 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Target by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after purchasing an additional 868,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 1.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $759,810,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Target by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 470,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $153.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Target from $191.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.57.

Target Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE TGT traded up $2.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.00. 2,426,969 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,565,830. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $68.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (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 business 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 company earned $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. 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. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.