Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,851 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,253 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Target were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Target by 135.2% in the 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,215 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 7,021 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,009,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 713.0% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,497 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after buying an additional 30,254 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S grew its stake in shares of Target by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 232,598 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $22,736,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Target from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore set a $125.00 price target on Target in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Target from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Target from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 2,053 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $240,591.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,038.17. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $125.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Target Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.44 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.35 and a 200 day moving average of $107.47.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.28. Target had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The company had revenue of $30.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.300- EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.09%.

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.