Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. Takes Position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. has invested approximately $4.44 million in Target Corporation, acquiring 42,500 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Target's stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with recent downgrades from Cfra Research, Bank of America, and others, lowering the price targets significantly.
• Target has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.21%.

Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 42,500 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,435,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 worth $343,312,000 after buying an additional 3,065,035 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Target by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer's stock worth $536,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,275 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter worth approximately $182,882,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Target by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America cut shares of Target from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Target and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.65.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $103.30. 4,513,207 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,636,790. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Corporation has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40. The company's 50 day moving average is $99.72 and its 200 day moving average is $107.87.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

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 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 4.34%. Target's payout ratio is 49.23%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.