Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp has reduced its stake in Target Corporation by 4.0%, selling 4,997 shares in the second quarter and now holding 120,448 shares valued at approximately $11.88 million.
• Target recently announced an increased quarterly dividend of $1.14 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 5.1%, which is a positive change from the previous dividend of $1.12.
• Despite recent challenges, analysts remain divided on Target's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price averaging $109.71.

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,448 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 4,997 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Target were worth $11,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth about $595,839,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Target by 1,364.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,289,692 shares of the retailer's stock worth $343,312,000 after buying an additional 3,065,035 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the first quarter worth about $186,361,000. Finally, 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (down from $105.00) on shares of Target in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.71.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $89.03 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $95.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $86.30 and a fifty-two week high of $161.50.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Target's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.15%.

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.

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