Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is Monte Financial Group LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Monte Financial Group LLC raised its position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,276 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,865 shares during the period. Target makes up approximately 3.1% of Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $7,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Praxis Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Target by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,950 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 19.7% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,067 shares in the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 5.3% during the first quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 64,454 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Target during the first quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $155.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Target from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.70.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $4,328,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 246,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,703,849.54. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $95.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.01. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The firm has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.23%.

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.