Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 34,978 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Target Corporation by 24.7%, acquiring an additional 34,978 shares, bringing their total ownership to 176,436 shares worth $18.4 million.
• Target's quarterly earnings reported a slight decline in revenue by 0.9% year-over-year, although the company exceeded EPS estimates, reporting $2.05 against a consensus of $2.04.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.48 and a dividend yield of 4.9%.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,436 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 34,978 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Target were worth $18,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE TGT traded up $0.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.47. 9,477,865 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,557,401. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month high of $161.50. The firm has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.16.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The business had revenue of $24.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Loop Capital set a $95.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Target from $108.00 to $106.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.74.

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.