Keystone Wealth Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,929 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Keystone Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Target by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $6,459,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,262,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Target in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Target stock opened at $97.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.78. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.11%.

Target 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.