Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $8.21 Million Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 9.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 91,480 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Target were worth $8,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,444,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,074,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,607,982 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $578,009,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 4.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,736,101 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,624,016,000 after buying an additional 1,529,026 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Target by 133.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,223,776 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $219,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,129 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Target by 96.1% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,165,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $213,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,885 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Trading Up 2.6%

TGT stock opened at $115.61 on Friday. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $131.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.00 and its 200-day moving average is $96.98. The firm has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.14.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on TGT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Target from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. DA Davidson set a $120.00 price target on Target in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.90.

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.