Tufton Capital Management Cuts Position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Tufton Capital Management trimmed its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,631 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,524 shares during the period. Target makes up approximately 1.4% of Tufton Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Tufton Capital Management's holdings in Target were worth $7,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $757,892,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Target by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,968,037 shares of the retailer's stock worth $536,407,000 after buying an additional 1,506,275 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,882,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Target by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,552 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Target from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America downgraded Target from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.65.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Up 0.2%

Target stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.03. 3,468,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,096,651. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $99.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $48.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.22. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's payout ratio is 49.23%.

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.