Forsta AP Fonden Sells 13,500 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,100 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,500 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Target were worth $14,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cynosure Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 4.3% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Target by 1.2% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Target by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Target by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa America downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $140.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.64.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

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.