Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,097 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 56,044 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $32,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 82.8% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Target by 106.6% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 405 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Target Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Target stock traded up $1.15 on Wednesday, reaching $164.47. 3,681,735 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,788,240. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $75.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $162.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.17.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $31.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TGT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Target from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.85.

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.