National Pension Service Grows Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Target stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 50,614 more shares and ending with 886,438 shares worth about $86.6 million.
• Target reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $1.71 EPS on $25.44 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates, with revenue up 6.7% year over year.
• Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on Target, with a consensus price target of $125.93; the stock recently traded at $127.25 and also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.14 per share.

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 886,438 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 50,614 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of Target worth $86,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,925,898 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,195,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,648,065 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,377,031,000 after acquiring an additional 911,964 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Target by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,913,883 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $170,278,000 after acquiring an additional 533,416 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,162,050 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $311,911,000 after acquiring an additional 461,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its position in shares of Target by 1,593.8% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 439,839 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,454,000 after acquiring an additional 413,871 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Target from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Target from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Target from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Target from $63.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $125.93.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $127.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.93. Target Corporation has a one year low of $83.44 and a one year high of $133.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $123.56 and its 200-day moving average is $110.87.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $25.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.66 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.24%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

About Target

Target Corporation NYSE: TGT is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.

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