Target Corporation $TGT Shares Sold by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,189 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,313 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Target were worth $19,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 48.1% in the first quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after buying an additional 27,329 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,208 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,869 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,623,000. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 79,158 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,809,000 after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter worth about $370,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Target from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Target from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (down from $105.00) on shares of Target in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.55.

Target Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of TGT opened at $88.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99. Target Corporation has a one year low of $85.36 and a one year high of $158.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.09.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The company had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

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

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.