Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 2,300 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,250 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Target were worth $4,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Target by 43.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at $103,000. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 15,594 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 1.2% in the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 35,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $128.37 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.32.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.28%.

Target Company 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.