Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Makes New Investment in Target Corporation $TGT

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,350 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 407.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,970,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,666,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,825,586 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Target in the second quarter worth $595,839,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1,364.3% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,289,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $343,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065,035 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the first quarter valued at $186,361,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Target by 35.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,370,062 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $560,420,000 after buying an additional 1,406,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

TGT opened at $89.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $85.36 and a 52-week high of $158.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.36.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The business had revenue of $24.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Target from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

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.