JT Stratford LLC Purchases New Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• JT Stratford LLC has acquired a new stake in Target Corporation, purchasing 8,312 shares valued at approximately $867,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target's stock for over $4.3 million, reducing his position by 15.44%.
• Target's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.30, missing analysts' expectations, while the company announced a $1.12 per share dividend to be paid on September 1st.

JT Stratford LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,312 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 951.4% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 389 shares of the retailer's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TGT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Target from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Target from $108.00 to $106.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.74.

Target Trading Down 1.6%

TGT stock traded down $1.5580 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.6820. 2,582,136 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,120,261. The company has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $161.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.42.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.84 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. Target's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Target's dividend payout ratio is 53.15%.

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 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Company 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.