LJI Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

LJI Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,767 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target during the second quarter worth $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

TGT stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,888,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,933,158. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $152.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $127.19 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Target in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

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.