Synovus Financial Corp Purchases 2,496 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,209 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Target were worth $5,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 9,940.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $311,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Target by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after buying an additional 1,502,200 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Target by 711.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,762,000 after buying an additional 768,479 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock opened at $134.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $144.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.21. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.