J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Reduces Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has significantly reduced its stake in Target Corporation by 76.4%, now owning only 3,085 shares valued at $304,000.
• Institutional investor activity includes Charles Schwab Investment Management increasing its stake by 407.8%, while other firms like Pacer Advisors Inc. and Goldman Sachs also boosted their holdings.
• Target Corporation will increase its quarterly dividend from $1.12 to $1.14, in line with a consistent annual yield of 5.1% for shareholders.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 76.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,085 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 9,984 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Target were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 407.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,666,672,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825,586 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,839,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 1,364.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,289,692 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $343,312,000 after buying an additional 3,065,035 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $186,361,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $560,420,000 after buying an additional 1,406,653 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Target from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.71.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $89.03 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $95.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $86.30 and a 1-year high of $161.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity 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 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This is a boost from Target's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Target's payout ratio is 53.15%.

About Target

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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