Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $8.16 Million Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,129 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Target were worth $8,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 56.1% in the 1st quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Target by 0.6% during the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,773 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Target by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,130 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in Target by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 27,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,868,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of TGT opened at $153.62 on Friday. 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 $71.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.03 and its 200-day moving average is $154.86. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $102.93 and a 12 month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.68.

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.