First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its Target stake by 7.7% in the first quarter, selling 104,314 shares and leaving it with 1,245,104 shares valued at about $150.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but generally constructive: several analysts recently raised price targets, while the consensus rating remains Hold with a $132.15 average target.
• Target reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.71 on revenue of $25.44 billion, and also announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share.

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,245,104 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 104,314 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.27% of Target worth $150,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 16.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 580 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in Target by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 2,951 shares of the retailer's stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Target by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,163 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,971,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the retailer's stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TGT. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Target from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Argus set a $150.00 target price on Target in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Target from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total transaction of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,782,127.70. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $134.52 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $130.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.69. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $144.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Target's previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.24%.

Target Company Profile

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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