Swiss National Bank Raises Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,373,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $214,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 9,940.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Target in the first quarter worth approximately $335,870,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 711.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,762,000 after purchasing an additional 768,479 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth about $107,367,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Target by 11.4% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after purchasing an additional 440,307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $152.13 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.34. The company has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $127.19 and a 12 month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s payout ratio is 46.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

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.