Cable Hill Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Cable Hill Partners LLC reduced its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,881 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 9,940.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Target during the 1st quarter valued at about $335,870,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Target by 711.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 876,531 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,762,000 after purchasing an additional 768,479 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at about $107,367,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 17.5% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 470,647 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $153.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $152.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. 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 1-year low of $124.88 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

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.