ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 39,732 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,317,280 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,732 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of Target worth $178,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,544,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,940,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,459,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Target by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 7th. KGI Securities set a $132.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.63.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $94.87 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $98.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.74. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month high of $167.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 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.