Brown Financial Advisors Invests $1.49 Million in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,037 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Target by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $112,686,000 after acquiring an additional 122,706 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Target by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Target in the 1st quarter worth about $13,958,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Target by 864.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,613 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,205,000 after purchasing an additional 51,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on TGT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $152.20 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $148.89 and its 200 day moving average is $154.24. The stock has a market cap of $70.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 1-year low of $102.93 and a 1-year high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.28%.

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.