South Dakota Investment Council Purchases 84,288 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,209 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 84,288 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.06% of Target worth $26,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Target in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 264 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in Target by 951.4% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 389 shares of the retailer's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital set a $95.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $103.40. 5,280,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,311,661. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Target's dividend payout ratio is 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.