Hilltop Holdings Inc. Increases Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 334.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,132 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,360 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $5,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Target during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Target in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $130.73 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $148.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.45.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TGT. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Target from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.