Easterly Investment Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,692 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,252 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $12,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Target by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 156,644 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,347,000 after buying an additional 21,726 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in Target by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,940,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Target in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,459,000. Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,262,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Correct Capital Wealth Management boosted its position in Target by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Correct Capital Wealth Management now owns 13,556 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 246,453 shares in the company, valued at $23,703,849.54. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Trading Down 0.8%

Target stock opened at $101.37 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.22. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $167.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 25.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on TGT. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group set a $110.00 target price on shares of Target and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Target from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Target from $112.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Target from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.70.

Target Company 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.