Target Corporation $TGT Position Trimmed by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH significantly reduced its stake in Target Corporation by 72.4% in the 1st quarter, holding 23,151 shares valued at $2.4 million post-sale.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions in Target, with Charles Schwab Investment Management growing its stake by 407.8% to over 15.9 million shares.
• Target's recent earnings report showed a slight beat on EPS at $2.05 but reflected a 0.9% year-over-year revenue decline, raising cautious outlooks among analysts.

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 72.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,151 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 60,758 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Target were worth $2,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 28,668 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 10,369 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Target by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 13,278 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Target by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,803 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 2.6% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,043 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Trading Down 2.2%

TGT traded down $2.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $97.05. The company had a trading volume of 7,637,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,152,869. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $102.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.42. The company has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month high of $161.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on TGT. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Target from $108.00 to $106.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.74.

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.