Palouse Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,653 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,418 shares during the quarter. Target makes up 2.5% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $3,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Target by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,923,428,000 after purchasing an additional 702,565 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Target by 4.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,570,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,725,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,881 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Target by 95,980.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,762,865,000 after purchasing an additional 18,518,448 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 1.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,300,283 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,371,516,000 after purchasing an additional 80,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Target by 26.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $747,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Target from $125.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.85.

Target Trading Up 1.0 %

TGT stock traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.30. 3,284,403 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,781,228. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.