Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 13,902 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Target Corporation by 9.0%, acquiring an additional 13,902 shares, bringing its total to 167,995 shares worth approximately $17.5 million.
• Target's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.30, missing analyst estimates by $0.35 and reflecting a 2.8% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• A recent analyst downgrade from Wall Street Zen changed Target’s rating from "hold" to "sell," with the average target price now estimated at $115.26.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,995 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 13,902 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Target were worth $17,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 951.4% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 389 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TGT. Citigroup decreased 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. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Target from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $95.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.42.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.99. The company had a trading volume of 6,291,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,902,920. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.38. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders 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 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.11%.

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.