Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 3,916 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,816 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,916 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Target were worth $5,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Value Partners Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,866,000. SOL Capital Management CO grew its stake in Target by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 4,480 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Target by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,778 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Target by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 9.0% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,618 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays assumed coverage on Target in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Target and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Cfra Research downgraded shares of Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Trading Up 5.3%

NYSE TGT traded up $5.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.86. 9,949,427 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,230,814. The firm has a market cap of $47.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The company's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio is 49.23%.

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.