Logan Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,585 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Logan Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,152 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,585 shares during the quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Target were worth $6,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Target by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,332,317,000 after acquiring an additional 470,990 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Target by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $726,814,000 after acquiring an additional 754,883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Target from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Target from $124.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett lowered Target from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Target from $124.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.63.

Target Stock Up 1.8%

TGT traded up $1.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $96.95. 8,337,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,894,804. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $167.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.74. The stock has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.56%.

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.