Heritage Trust Co Takes Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 28,183 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,810,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Target by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Target by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,699,000 after purchasing an additional 138,751 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,459,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Target by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 14,354 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Target by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $92.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $173.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.29.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TGT. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Target from $166.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.