Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Purchases 12,266 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 499.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,720 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 12,266 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Target were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $536,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,275 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth $182,882,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on TGT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Cfra Research lowered Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Target from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.70.

Target Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:TGT traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.26. 3,863,821 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,262,976. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.97. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $167.40. The company has a market cap of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's payout ratio 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.