1834 Investment Advisors Co. Grows Stock Position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its stake in Target Corporation by 12.1% during the first quarter, bringing their total shares to 25,931, valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts have cut their target prices for Target, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering it from $112 to $103 and Bank of America reducing theirs from $145 to $105, reflecting a consensus average target of $115.65.
• Target Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12, yielding about 4.2%, to be paid on September 1st, following a recent quarterly earnings report where it missed consensus estimates.

1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,931 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares during the quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.'s holdings in Target were worth $2,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Target by 44.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,276,435 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $237,569,000 after acquiring an additional 697,069 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 2.9% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 407.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,666,672,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825,586 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Target during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,964,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Target by 86.4% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 159,587 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,655,000 after acquiring an additional 73,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Loop Capital set a $95.00 target price on Target in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Target from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut Target from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $145.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.65.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of TGT traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.45. 3,493,433 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,928,076. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $87.35 and a 52-week high of $167.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.30. The firm has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.23%.

About Target

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.