Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $9.82 Million Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Target by 9.8% to 100,480 shares, a position valued at $9.822 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Target reported quarterly EPS of $2.44 (beating estimates) with revenue of $30.45B slightly below expectations, set FY2026 guidance of 7.50–8.50 EPS, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.14 (3.5% yield).
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $117.39, which is below the stock's recent price near $128.81.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,480 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Target were worth $9,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Target by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,267,577 shares of the retailer's stock worth $113,702,000 after buying an additional 124,371 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the third quarter valued at about $1,236,000. LJI Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Target by 446.4% in the third quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,836 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,138,000 after buying an additional 19,474 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 15.4% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 342,487 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $30,721,000 after purchasing an additional 45,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the third quarter valued at about $8,694,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TGT. Barclays raised their price objective on Target from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Target from $63.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Target from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America began coverage on Target in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 price objective on Target in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $117.39.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,038.17. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Target Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of TGT stock opened at $128.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $58.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 3.54%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 earnings per share. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Target's payout ratio is currently 56.09%.

Target 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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