Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 1,406,653 Shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Target Corporation by 35.5%, acquiring over 1.4 million shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 5.37 million shares valued at $560.4 million.
• Target announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, which will be paid on September 1st, representing a dividend yield of 4.2%.
• Target's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.30, missing expectations by $0.35, along with a 2.8% year-over-year revenue decline for the quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 35.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,370,062 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,406,653 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.18% of Target worth $560,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Target by 101.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Target by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 56,384 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,253 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Target by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,737,638 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $370,074,000 after acquiring an additional 387,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Target by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,615 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on TGT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Target from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.65.

Target Price Performance

TGT traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $105.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,493,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,928,076. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.79 and a 200-day moving average of $106.09. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.22. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $167.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The business had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Target's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Target's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.