Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases New Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,116 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Target during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Target in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $155.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $107.13 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

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.