Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 3,548 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 56.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,854 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Target were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 85.2% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 3,222 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Target by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,389 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management raised its holdings in Target by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 2,819 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. CMH Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. CMH Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,420 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,410,000 after acquiring an additional 14,719 shares during the period. Finally, Courier Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 62.4% during the 1st quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 9,874 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $4.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.25. The stock had a trading volume of 7,297,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,130,221. The company's 50 day moving average price is $95.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $167.40. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's payout ratio is 50.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

About Target

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.