Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Acquires New Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,801 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $919,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in Target by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,544,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $31,699,000 after buying an additional 138,751 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its position in Target by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,940,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at $6,459,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Target by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cfra Research lowered Target from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.13.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,355,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,906,992. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $87.35 and a 12 month high of $167.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $98.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.85. The company has a market cap of $44.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. 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 (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Target's dividend payout ratio 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.