Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 48,525 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Target Corporation by 2.2% after selling 48,525 shares, maintaining ownership of approximately 2.15 million shares worth $224.3 million.
• Target's latest quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.30, falling short of analysts' expectations and reflecting a 2.8% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Target declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12, with an annualized yield of 4.3%, while its stock has seen approximately a 1.2% decrease in value recently.

Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,149,448 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 48,525 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.47% of Target worth $224,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 101.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 59,261 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,011,000 after acquiring an additional 18,871 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 151.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 67,216 shares of the retailer's stock worth $9,086,000 after acquiring an additional 40,519 shares in the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, Capital International Sarl boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 17,562 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on TGT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Target from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Loop Capital set a $95.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Target from $155.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.42.

Target Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of TGT stock opened at $102.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm's 50-day moving average is $101.77 and its 200-day moving average is $104.87. The stock has a market cap of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target 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 value of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Company 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.

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