Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Trims Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,233 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,255 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore set a $105.00 price target on Target in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Target in a report on Friday, February 27th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Target from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Target from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Target from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.76.

Target Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $120.56 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. Target Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.44 and a 12-month high of $126.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.28. Target had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 3.54%.The firm had revenue of $30.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 56.09%.

Target Profile

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.