Czech National Bank Buys 414 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,638 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $7,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Target by 3,577.5% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,471 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Target by 3.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,045 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Target by 131.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Target during the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Ergoteles LLC grew its stake in Target by 191.5% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,503,000 after buying an additional 7,748 shares in the last quarter. 78.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on TGT. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $193.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $161.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Target from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Target from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $177.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, June 9th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.21.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of Target stock opened at $123.05 on Friday. Target Co. has a 12 month low of $120.75 and a 12 month high of $181.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.07.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 16th. The retailer reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $24.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.18 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.12% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.70, for a total transaction of $3,921,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 399,669 shares in the company, valued at $52,236,738.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Target

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.