Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 115 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,918 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Target by 7.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 79,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,351,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Target during the 3rd quarter valued at about $287,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Target by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,710 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new position in Target in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $152.16 on Friday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $127.19 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $152.54 and its 200 day moving average is $150.54. The stock has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

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.