D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 5,679 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,594 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,679 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Target were worth $12,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 470,990 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Target by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer's stock worth $726,814,000 after acquiring an additional 754,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $104.17 on Friday. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $87.35 and a 1 year high of $167.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $96.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.94.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.70.

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.

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