Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 27.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,145 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 11,357 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Target were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Target by 17.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 113,674 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,863,000 after buying an additional 16,496 shares during the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in Target by 58.8% in the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 2,431 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Target by 3.5% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 8,177 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Target by 16.1% in the first quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 156,644 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,347,000 after buying an additional 21,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC lifted its stake in Target by 1.7% in the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,091 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Target Stock Up 1.5%

Target stock opened at $105.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40. The stock's fifty day moving average is $96.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TGT. Baird R W cut Target from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 price objective on Target in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim cut their price target on Target from $155.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.70.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 246,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Profile

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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