Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Purchased by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,231 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp grew its stake in Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 9,940.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after buying an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Target by 173.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,200 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Target by 773.1% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $129,795,000 after acquiring an additional 737,384 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on TGT. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Daiwa America downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.57.

Target Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $142.44 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $65.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.16. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.79.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.