Aviance Capital Partners LLC Increases Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,333 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Target during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 156.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $152.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $128.37 and a 12-month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.28%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.