Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,230 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,632 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Target were worth $5,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TAP Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter worth $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Target by 8.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Target by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,484,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 166.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $152.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.39. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $127.19 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

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

Target 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.