First Interstate Bank Sells 220 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

First Interstate Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,400 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in shares of Target by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 44,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter worth approximately $605,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Target by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Target by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 519,634 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $73,819,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC lifted its position in Target by 109.9% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,883,000 after buying an additional 14,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock traded down $1.70 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.31. 3,450,573 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,796,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.80.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The retailer reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.57. Target had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $31.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Target’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Target’s payout ratio is 49.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 approximately $5,038,481.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Target from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet upgraded Target from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.85.

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.