South Dakota Investment Council Buys 50,011 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 42.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,921 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 50,011 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Target were worth $22,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. Cynosure Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Target by 1.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Target by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Target by 1.1% in the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its stake in Target by 2.2% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.70.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.15. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $134.41 and its 200-day moving average is $142.74.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

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.