Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Shares Sold by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,295 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 10,228 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Target were worth $2,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $759,810,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 15,009.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,757,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $250,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,459 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 37,301.2% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,698,764 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $187,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,222 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Target by 26.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,762,227 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $747,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,900 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Target by 51,357.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,220,576 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC raised Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Target from $142.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.41.

Insider Activity at Target

In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Target news, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $495,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,527 shares in the company, valued at $5,038,481.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $143.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 290,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,817,053. The firm has a market cap of $66.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 31.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 9.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.