Auxano Advisors LLC Invests $864,000 in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Auxano Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,067 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Target by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,487 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Target by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Target by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,389 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. Finally, Foresight Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,061,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $160.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,425,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,661,962. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.87.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

Insider Activity at Target

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on TGT shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Target from $125.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

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.