Enterprise Financial Services Corp Purchases 213 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,882 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Target were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $297,122,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,795,000 after buying an additional 737,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TGT. Gordon Haskett downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Daiwa America downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Target from $166.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $115.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.49. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $112.10 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

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.