Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,120 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,832 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Target were worth $14,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 101.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at about $841,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,637 shares of the retailer's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Target by 122.2% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,422 shares of the retailer's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 target price (down from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Cfra Research cut shares of Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Target stock traded up $1.09 on Thursday, reaching $99.20. 5,315,738 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,110,448. The company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $167.40. The firm's 50-day moving average is $95.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.