Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 2,417 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,249 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Target were worth $5,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Target by 156.5% in the 3rd 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, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Target in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TGT. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Melius Research began coverage on Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $125.01 on Monday. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.