Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 7.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,209 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,526 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Target were worth $9,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Little House Capital LLC purchased a new position in Target in the first quarter worth $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Target by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $112,686,000 after purchasing an additional 122,706 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Target by 11.4% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,618,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at $13,958,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its position in shares of Target by 134.6% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 103,785 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,781,000 after buying an additional 59,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Target in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $116.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Target from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “inline” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $151.36 on Monday. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $70.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.02 and a 200 day moving average of $155.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.