Rakuten Securities Inc. Invests $29,000 in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 204 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tower View Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Target by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its stake in Target by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $166.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $76.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.25 and a 200-day moving average of $140.52. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $102.93 and a 52 week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC raised shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.