Kestra Advisory Services LLC Acquires 3,370 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,656 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $15,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $605,000. Little House Capital LLC bought a new position in Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Target by 23.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $112,686,000 after acquiring an additional 122,706 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 11.4% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,958,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.57.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock traded up $2.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.00. 2,426,969 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,565,830. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.40. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.