Burford Brothers Inc. Boosts Holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Burford Brothers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,220 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 6,377 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc.'s holdings in Target were worth $1,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Target by 6.3% during 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,532,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 470,990 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Target by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer's stock worth $726,814,000 after purchasing an additional 754,883 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

TGT traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $104.26. 3,863,821 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,269,118. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40. The stock has a market cap of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.97. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Target's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price target on Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Target from $160.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.