AIA Group Ltd Makes New $421,000 Investment in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in Target Corporation, purchasing 4,033 shares valued at approximately $421,000.
• Target's latest quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.30, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.65, with revenues declining by 2.8% year-on-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.2%, payable on September 1st.

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,033 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised 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 valued at $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 407.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,666,672,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825,586 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 35.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $560,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,653 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Target by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,823,264 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $652,014,000 after purchasing an additional 840,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.99. The stock had a trading volume of 6,291,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,200,333. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $167.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.12.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Target's payout ratio is currently 50.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Target from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $93.00 price objective (down from $105.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.42.

Target 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.