Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 127 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,783 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after buying an additional 1,046,044 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,456,000 after buying an additional 130,691 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,321,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,620,000 after buying an additional 62,916 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Target by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,053,471 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $475,914,000 after buying an additional 56,695 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.70.

Target Stock Down 0.0 %

Target stock opened at $131.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $60.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.15. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its 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 business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

Target Company 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.