IFM Investors Pty Ltd Buys 8,529 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,388 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 8,529 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Target were worth $10,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 12,926 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 239.4% during the 1st quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,775 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 8,306 shares during the period. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in Target by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,109 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Target by 48.7% in the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,686 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 15,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on TGT. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Target from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research downgraded Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price objective on Target and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Stock Down 1.2%

TGT stock opened at $104.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.05 and a 200-day moving average of $111.76. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Target's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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