Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Acquired by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT - Free Report) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,000 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 38,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Target were worth $17,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Target by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,891,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Target by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer's stock worth $73,819,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 109.9% during the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 14,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett raised their price target on Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.85.

Target Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Target stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $164.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,085,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,695,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company's 50-day moving average is $165.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.02. The company has a market cap of $76.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.83 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Target's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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