Allstate Corp Purchases New Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,598 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 1.4% during the third 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $757,892,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Target by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,832,585 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $518,089,000 after purchasing an additional 234,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,144,828 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $425,118,000 after buying an additional 91,357 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $103.63 on Friday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $101.76 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $47.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $122.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.46.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Target from $134.00 to $124.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.40.

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.