Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Stock Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 496,344 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,809 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.11% of Target worth $44,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Target by 14.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,444,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,074,984,000 after acquiring an additional 6,607,982 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,736,101 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,624,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,026 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,247,590 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,602,825,000 after purchasing an additional 277,176 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $578,009,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Target by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,549,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $350,146,000 after buying an additional 310,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Target from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Target from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.03.

Target Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE TGT opened at $108.04 on Friday. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.44 and a 1 year high of $145.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $97.63 and its 200 day moving average is $96.33.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.44 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is 55.34%.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.