Argent Trust Co Has $8.21 Million Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Argent Trust Co raised its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,695 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Target were worth $8,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Paralel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 14,169 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 8,412 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Target by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 247,581 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,468,000 after acquiring an additional 7,036 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 278,410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,635,000 after purchasing an additional 54,710 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of Target stock traded down $4.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $92.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,077,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,460,433. The firm has a market cap of $42.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $173.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Baird R W cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Roth Capital set a $122.00 target price on Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.03.

Target Company 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.