Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 243,144 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25,687 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Target worth $32,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $297,122,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,555,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,795,000 after purchasing an additional 737,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on TGT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Target from $166.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Capital set a $122.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.55.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $106.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.08. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $101.76 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

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.