HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases 993 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,551 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $757,892,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at $297,122,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Target by 173.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,795,000 after purchasing an additional 737,384 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.40.

Target Trading Up 0.7 %

TGT opened at $104.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $122.37 and its 200-day moving average is $136.08. The company has a market cap of $47.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year 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.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

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.