Advisory Alpha LLC Makes New $277,000 Investment in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,051 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 3,026 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its position in Target by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,838 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Target by 175.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in Target by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 322,885 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,648,000 after purchasing an additional 54,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.57.

Target Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $137.24 on Friday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $62.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

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.