Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases 58,522 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Brandes Investment Partners increased its Target position by 12% in the fourth quarter, buying 58,522 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 547,294 shares worth about $53.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several other funds also adding to their Target stakes; overall, about 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Target posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.71 versus estimates of $1.47 and revenue of $25.44 billion topping forecasts, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold with an average price target of $125.93.

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 547,294 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 58,522 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.12% of Target worth $53,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of Target by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 6,155 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 13,162 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 300,587 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,382,000 after purchasing an additional 86,961 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $130.00 price target on Target in a research report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Target from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Target from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered Target from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total value of $1,258,900.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. This trade represents a 17.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Price Performance

TGT opened at $126.52 on Wednesday. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.44 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $124.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.71. The firm has a market cap of $57.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.00.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $25.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.66 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

About Target

Target Corporation NYSE: TGT is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.

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