Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.20 Billion Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,925,898 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,481,560 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.75% of Target worth $5,195,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 101.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Target by 39.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 38,712 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,040,000 after acquiring an additional 11,047 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in Target by 23.9% during the second quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,779 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 26.4% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 292,694 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,426,000 after acquiring an additional 61,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Probity Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 29.9% in the second quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 12,489 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TGT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho cut their price target on Target from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Target from $117.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Target from $89.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.45.

Target Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $116.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.44 and a 52-week high of $131.70. The company has a market capitalization of $52.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.44 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 22.74%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.34%.

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.