New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Takes $60,000 Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 340 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Target in the fourth quarter worth $759,810,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Target by 15,009.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,459 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 51,357.7% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,220,576 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,204 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Target by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,683,228 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $382,145,000 after purchasing an additional 984,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Target by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,163,864 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,447,538,000 after purchasing an additional 868,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Target from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $116.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett boosted their price target on shares of Target from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.68.

Target Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $3.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $147.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,450,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,842,998. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86.

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

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Target’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Target 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.