Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 326,462 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 68,614 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Target worth $44,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Target by 1.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Target by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,566,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in Target by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 133,563 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,055,000 after buying an additional 6,341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Target from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.87.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $104.71 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $129.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.63. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $103.46 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG 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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

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.