Moors & Cabot Inc. Grows Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,630 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of TGT stock opened at $151.97 on Wednesday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.