Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by LJI Wealth Management LLC

LJI Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,767 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $647,652,000 after acquiring an additional 279,656 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $639,050,000 after buying an additional 440,307 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 17.5% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,153,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 470,647 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Target by 16.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $461,031,000 after acquiring an additional 435,229 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Target by 9.7% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $458,131,000 after acquiring an additional 272,521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $152.13. 3,888,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,933,158. The stock has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $127.19 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

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.