Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $127.73 Million Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 572.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,223,965 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,042,047 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.27% of Target worth $127,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,964,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,552 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 470,990 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Target by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $726,814,000 after acquiring an additional 754,883 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Target from $155.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Baird R W lowered shares of Target from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $4.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.25. 7,297,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,125,779. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.23.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.