Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $19.47 Million in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 144,000 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $19,466,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in Target by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 23,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,124,000 after buying an additional 6,013 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,789,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 148.2% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 42,093 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,690,000 after buying an additional 25,134 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,937,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its holdings in Target by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 4,096 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TGT. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Target from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.20.

Target Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:TGT opened at $96.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.45. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $87.35 and a 12 month high of $167.40. 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 (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

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.