Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires 70,283 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 147.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,944 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,283 shares during the quarter. Target accounts for about 1.3% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $15,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its holdings in Target by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,544,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Target by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,459,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Target by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Target from $134.00 to $124.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Target from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.55.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $106.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $101.76 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. 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.