Columbia Trust Co 01012016 Buys 955 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Columbia Trust Co 01012016 increased its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,287 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016’s holdings in Target were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 95,980.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,537,742 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,762,865,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,448 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at $725,870,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 37,301.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $187,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Target by 252.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,166,161 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $358,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551,551 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Target by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,570,634 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,725,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:TGT traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $172.72. 3,512,942 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,938,676. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.60 and a 200 day moving average of $134.02. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $175.53. The company has a market capitalization of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Target from $142.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Target from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.58.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.