Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Cuts Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,819 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 21,340 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Target were worth $13,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 4.2% during the first quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 27,617 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 6.1% in the first quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 9,695 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its position in Target by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 15,072 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,472,000 after acquiring an additional 4,078 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in Target during the first quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 18.3% during the first quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 6,956 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital set a $122.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays started coverage on Target in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.70.

Insider Activity

In other Target 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 value of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $97.33 on Friday. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $167.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $95.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.16. The stock has a market cap of $44.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Target's payout ratio is 49.23%.

Target 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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