Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stock Holdings in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Target were worth $4,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Target by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,374,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $647,652,000 after purchasing an additional 279,656 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Target by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,316,738 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,050,000 after acquiring an additional 440,307 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Target by 16.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,114,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $461,031,000 after acquiring an additional 435,229 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Target by 9.7% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,094,644 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $458,131,000 after purchasing an additional 272,521 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Target by 0.3% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,035,326 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,310,000 after purchasing an additional 5,586 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Stock Up 2.8 %

Target stock opened at $125.01 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.54. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The firm has a market cap of $57.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Target’s payout ratio is 47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Target from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.13.

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.