Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 13,378 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Target stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,378 shares and leaving it with 498,793 shares valued at about $48.8 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 79.73%, and several other funds also increased their Target holdings during the period.
• Analysts are mixed on Target: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $118.04, while Target also recently reported earnings that beat expectations and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.14 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 498,793 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 13,378 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Target worth $48,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 101.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Target by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 38,712 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,040,000 after purchasing an additional 11,047 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,660 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,872,000 after purchasing an additional 12,948 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Target by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,860 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,832,000 after purchasing an additional 14,195 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Target by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 272,787 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,910,000 after purchasing an additional 27,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Target from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $102.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Target from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $125.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.35 and a 200-day moving average of $107.47. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $56.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.01.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.28. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The company had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is 56.09%.

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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