Pinebridge Investments L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lessened its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,214 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 48,522 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Target were worth $17,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $757,892,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $297,122,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,532,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Target by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,046,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $122.00 price objective on Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Target from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $142.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.37.

Target Stock Performance

TGT traded up $1.40 on Friday, reaching $96.71. 5,270,945 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,700,054. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.93.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Target's payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Target Company 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.