Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 7,694 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,136 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Target worth $38,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Target by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,532,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 470,990 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Target by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $726,814,000 after purchasing an additional 754,883 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on TGT. UBS Group reduced their price target on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cfra Research downgraded Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Target from $124.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.63.

Target Stock Down 4.3%

NYSE TGT traded down $4.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.87. 10,264,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,871,642. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.93. The company has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $87.35 and a 12 month high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target's payout ratio is 50.56%.

Target Company Profile

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.