Target Corporation $TGT Holdings Raised by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,480 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Target were worth $8,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 41.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 38,819 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 11,378 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Target in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,236,000. QVR LLC purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,014,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Target by 122.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 41,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after purchasing an additional 22,968 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 446.4% in the third quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,836 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 19,474 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Stock Up 2.6%

Target stock opened at $115.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.14. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $131.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. Target’s payout ratio is 55.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Citigroup upped their price target on Target from $89.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Target from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore ISI set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Target from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.90.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.