Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Beacon Capital Management LLC

Beacon Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 55.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 235 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $170,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Target by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 956,755 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,334,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the period. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Target by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,983 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.70.

Target Stock Performance

TGT opened at $127.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.18. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Target Company 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.