Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 115 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Dearborn Partners LLC cut its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,918 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TGT. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Target by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 79,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,351,000 after buying an additional 5,192 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Target by 4.0% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Target during the third quarter worth approximately $287,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,710 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Swift Group LLC acquired a new stake in Target in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Stock Down 0.9 %

TGT opened at $152.16 on Friday. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $127.19 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.54 and a 200 day moving average of $150.54.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on TGT. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

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.