Equitable Trust Co. Purchases 1,687 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,178 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $3,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cynosure Group LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 4.3% during the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Target by 1.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Target by 0.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 1.1% during the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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 assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $131.29 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, 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 has a 50-day moving average of $135.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.80. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.