Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases Shares of 39,804 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,804 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,154,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 101.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer's stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,106 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Target by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Target by 245.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 58,725 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,938,000 after purchasing an additional 41,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Target Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Target stock traded down $2.69 on Wednesday, hitting $98.08. 6,799,001 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,101,422. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $95.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Target Co. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Robert W. Baird set a $100.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Cfra Research cut Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim cut their target price 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, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Target from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Target Company 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.