Comerica Bank Sells 9,757 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Comerica Bank decreased its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 311,144 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,757 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $42,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth about $757,892,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,122,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Target by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,964,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $150,046,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $142.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.37.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $96.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.91. The stock has a market cap of $44.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. Target Co. has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. As a group, research analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Target Company 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.