Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) CAO Sells $153,130.00 in Stock

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Target Trading Down 0.4 %

Target stock opened at $151.90 on Friday. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $102.93 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $70.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Little House Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the first quarter worth $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Target by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $112,686,000 after acquiring an additional 122,706 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at about $13,958,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Target by 134.6% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 103,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 59,553 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.68.

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.