Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Purchases New Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,591 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,748,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Target by 22.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,907 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc bought a new stake in Target in the first quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Phocas Financial Corp. raised its stake in Target by 3.2% in the first quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 4,155 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Target by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. 78.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 30,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.70, for a total value of $3,921,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 399,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,236,738.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.52. 2,997,077 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,447,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $120.75 and a twelve month high of $181.70. The company has a market cap of $57.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 16th. The retailer reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $24.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.18 billion. Target had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 3.12%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 60.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Target from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Target from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.66.

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.