FIL Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,239 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,198 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Target were worth $3,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Target by 175.3% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 257 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in shares of Target by 330.8% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 280 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on TGT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Target from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.20.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $91.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,511,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,557,963. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $111.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.99. The firm has a market cap of $41.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $169.09.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

About Target

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.