Advisortrust Partners LLC Takes Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Advisortrust Partners LLC bought a new position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 43,891 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,000. Target makes up about 1.9% of Advisortrust Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Target by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,212,397 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,690,262,000 after purchasing an additional 286,499 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Target by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,772,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,692,265,000 after purchasing an additional 124,468 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,065,926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,668,194,000 after acquiring an additional 561,898 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $605,507,000 after purchasing an additional 142,937 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $587,903,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In related news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 45,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. This represents a 17.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Target from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Argus set a $150.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Target from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Target from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.11.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $130.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $126.43 and its 200 day moving average is $115.00. Target Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.44 and a twelve month high of $137.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company had revenue of $25.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.24%.

Target Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.