Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Target Corporation by 19.9%, owning approximately 0.05% of the company worth about $23.97 million.
• Target reported earnings per share of $2.05 for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, although quarterly revenue declined 0.9% year-over-year.
• Wall Street analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Target, with a price target averaging around $113.74.

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,725 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 38,072 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Target worth $23,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TGT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Target by 407.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,666,672,000 after buying an additional 12,825,586 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 1,364.3% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,289,692 shares of the retailer's stock worth $343,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065,035 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Target during the first quarter worth about $186,361,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 35.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer's stock worth $560,420,000 after buying an additional 1,406,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 572.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,223,965 shares of the retailer's stock worth $127,733,000 after buying an additional 1,042,047 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Target from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $93.00 price target (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Target in a report on Friday, August 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.74.

Target Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of TGT traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.03. The company had a trading volume of 6,162,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,782,737. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.98. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $161.50. The company has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.16.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The firm had revenue of $24.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.