Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 3,176 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 63.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,850 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,176 shares during the period. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Target by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,619,000 after buying an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Target by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,834,000 after buying an additional 69,885 shares during the period. Finally, Polianta Ltd raised its stake in shares of Target by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 10,300 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $134.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $135.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.04. The firm has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

About Target

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.