Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $3.21 Million Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. decreased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,736 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $3,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,456,000 after purchasing an additional 130,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after buying an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,620,000 after buying an additional 62,916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $135.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $62.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.94. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on TGT. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.57.

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.