Viking Fund Management LLC Has $8.68 Million Stock Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Viking Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Target Corporation by 46.7%, acquiring an additional 28,000 shares, bringing its total holding to 88,000 shares valued at approximately $8.68 million.
• Target Corporation reported a quarterly EPS of $2.05, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, along with a revenue of $24.99 billion, but witnessed a 0.9% decline compared to the previous year.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $1.14 per share, with a dividend yield of 5.2%, set to be paid on December 1st to shareholders recorded by November 12th.

Viking Fund Management LLC increased its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 46.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,000 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares during the quarter. Target makes up about 1.2% of Viking Fund Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in Target were worth $8,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Target by 407.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,666,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,825,586 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Target in the second quarter valued at $595,839,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,361,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Target by 35.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer's stock worth $560,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Target from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Loop Capital set a $95.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Target from $90.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Target from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.69.

Target Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of TGT stock traded down $1.30 on Friday, hitting $88.12. 13,274,029 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,472,747. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99. Target Corporation has a one year low of $87.35 and a one year high of $161.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $99.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.89.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The firm had revenue of $24.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from Target's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Target's payout ratio is currently 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.