Insider Selling: Target (NYSE:TGT) CAO Sells 926 Shares

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) CAO Matthew Liegel sold 926 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $151,410.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,266 shares in the company, valued at $2,005,613.66. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Target Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE:TGT traded up $4.52 on Monday, hitting $169.96. 6,409,823 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,456,487. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $170.75. The company has a market cap of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 19th. The retailer reported $4.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $1.76. The company had revenue of $26.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.13 billion. Target had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 4.08%.Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. 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 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 48.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TGT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $150.00 price objective on Target in a report on Thursday. Evercore set a $170.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Target from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research set a $169.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.52.

Target Company 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.