King Luther Capital Management Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,380 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,082 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Target were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Target by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Target by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth $1,438,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.87.

Target Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE TGT opened at $107.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $107.02 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $49.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.51.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Target Company Profile

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.