Gallacher Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,881 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,527,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,923,428,000 after buying an additional 702,565 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 26.5% during the 3rd 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Target by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,146,067 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $569,001,000 after purchasing an additional 134,262 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Target by 8.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,569,969 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $394,739,000 after buying an additional 287,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Target by 3.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,469,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $383,586,000 after buying an additional 127,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a 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 $181.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.2 %

TGT traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $158.35. 2,418,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,671,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS 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 company had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Target’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

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.