Balboa Wealth Partners Boosts Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Balboa Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 923.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,828 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,989 shares during the quarter. Target makes up approximately 0.6% of Balboa Wealth Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Target were worth $2,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Target by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,122,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after buying an additional 1,502,200 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,795,000 after buying an additional 737,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TGT. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.87.

Target Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $107.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $107.02 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.51. The company has a market capitalization of $49.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

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.