First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,235 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $2,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after buying an additional 279,656 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after buying an additional 440,307 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Target by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $461,031,000 after buying an additional 435,229 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Target by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $458,131,000 after buying an additional 272,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Target by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,035,326 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TGT. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target 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 $19,418,510.67. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Trading Down 21.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $121.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $56.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $152.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.12.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 46.28%.

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.