LPL Financial LLC Purchases 21,241 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 704,168 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 21,241 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $109,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Target in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $125.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.69. 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 (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results 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 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.