GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $697,000 in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,011 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Target by 106.6% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Target by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 467,780 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,602,000 after buying an additional 138,448 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Target by 132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,272 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Target by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:TGT traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $166.51. 1,889,685 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,736,716. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $164.04 and its 200-day moving average is $141.86. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares in the company, valued at $58,115,870.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of Target 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 $6,576,658.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target 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 transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.85.

Target 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.