Conning Inc. Reduces Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Conning Inc. decreased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 95.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,367 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 237,308 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $1,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Target by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,166 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Target by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 3,464 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 59,917 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Target from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.70.

Target Price Performance

TGT opened at $131.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.98. The company has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

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.