M.D. Sass LLC Has $42.81 Million Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

M.D. Sass LLC grew its holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 274,658 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,806 shares during the quarter. Target makes up 3.2% of M.D. Sass LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $42,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in Target by 1.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Target by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Target by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Target by 5.3% in the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of Target by 0.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,444,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Melius Research initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.30.

Target Price Performance

Shares of Target stock traded down $2.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,302,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,386,121. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced 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 return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.