Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires 8,528 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 42.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,540 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 8,528 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Target were worth $2,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 101.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Target by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,268 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Target by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,480 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $297,122,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 5,001 shares of the retailer's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on TGT. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Target from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE TGT traded down $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.17. The company had a trading volume of 3,535,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,250,547. The company's fifty day moving average is $97.05 and its 200-day moving average is $111.76. Target Corporation has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.22.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Target had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 3.95%. The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Target's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

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 paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's payout ratio is presently 49.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.