Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $2.26 Million Stock Holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Target Corporation by 12.5%, holding 21,633 shares valued at approximately $2.26 million after the sale.
• Target's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.30, missing expectations by $0.35, with revenue also down 2.8% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 4.2%, with an ex-dividend date of August 13th.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,633 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,078 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Target were worth $2,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 951.4% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 389 shares of the retailer's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.65.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock traded down $1.34 on Monday, reaching $104.06. 5,018,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,918,937. The stock has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Target Corporation has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $167.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.88.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). 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 revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Target's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.11%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were 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 owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.