Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires Shares of 101,733 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 101,733 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $14,489,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnus Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Intellectus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $709,000. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,712 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TGT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Target from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $156.44 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $72.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.14. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

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.