Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Boosts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,384 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,687 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Target were worth $3,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Target by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 218,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,247,000 after buying an additional 20,360 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,374 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,005 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $127.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.13. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $58.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

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.