The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,590 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 12,219 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Target worth $31,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,054,604,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $831,466,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth $587,903,000. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Target during the fourth quarter worth $257,571,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 243.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,870,210 shares of the retailer's stock worth $280,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035,298 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $151,410.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,005,613.66. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.96, for a total transaction of $2,634,380.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 56,981 shares in the company, valued at $9,684,490.76. This represents a 21.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGT has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $170.00 target price on Target in a report on Thursday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Target from $127.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Target from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Target from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.52.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $165.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.63. The company has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.97. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $170.75.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The retailer reported $4.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $1.76. Target had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 4.08%.The company had revenue of $26.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.900 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Target's previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. Target's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.18%.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation NYSE: TGT is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.

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