Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Has $1.07 Million Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,904 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Target were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TGT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Target by 9,940.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,001,391 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $311,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,458 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Target by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $369,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,200 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 11.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,980,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,555,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Target by 773.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 832,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $129,795,000 after purchasing an additional 737,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TGT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Target from $156.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim increased their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.70.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $124.40 on Friday. Target Co. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.67. The firm has a market cap of $57.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.