Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 30.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 631,282 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 271,520 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Target worth $98,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Target in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 133 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Target during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.57.

Target Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $131.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $60.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.17. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.54.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released 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). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

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.