Willis Investment Counsel Has $11.22 Million Holdings in Target Corporation $TGT

Key Points

• Willis Investment Counsel cut its stake in Target by 10.3% in Q4, selling 13,162 shares and finishing the period with 114,800 shares valued at about $11.22 million.
• Wall Street shows mixed sentiment—11 Buys, 19 Holds and 3 Sells—with a MarketBeat consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $116.32, even as some firms raised targets (e.g., Telsey $145, UBS $144).
• Target beat Q4 EPS estimates ($2.44 vs. $2.16), set Q1 and FY2026 guidance (Q1 ~1.30 EPS; FY 7.50–8.50 EPS) and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.14 (annualized yield ~3.7%).

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,800 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 13,162 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in Target were worth $11,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Target by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 292 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Target by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 346 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $63.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Target from $90.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.32.

Target Stock Up 2.8%

Target stock opened at $122.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $55.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $126.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.28.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Target's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.09%.

Insider Activity at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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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