Equitable Trust Co. Sells 4,377 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,127 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,377 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its position in Target by 3.0% during the second quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 3,347 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Target by 63.4% during the second quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Target by 2.6% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,043 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Target by 9.7% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 21.4% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 606 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Target stock opened at $88.94 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.65. The company has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $85.36 and a 1 year high of $161.50.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.84 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. Target’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Target from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.00.

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.