Aberdeen Group plc Sells 90,185 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Aberdeen Group plc cut its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 580,380 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 90,185 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.13% of Target worth $50,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 14.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,444,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,074,984,000 after buying an additional 6,607,982 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $578,009,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Target by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,736,101 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,624,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,026 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Target by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,223,776 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $219,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Target by 96.1% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,165,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $213,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,885 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Target from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Target from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $88.00 price target on Target in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.90.

Target Price Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $115.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.44 and a 52-week high of $131.70.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.44 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 22.74%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.34%.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.