Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Purchased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,199 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TGT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Target by 8.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 47.5% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,834,000 after purchasing an additional 69,885 shares during the period. Finally, Polianta Ltd grew its position in Target by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 10,300 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Daiwa America cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $134.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.33. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

Target 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.