Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 182 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,364 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $757,892,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $297,122,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358,348 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its position in Target by 8,114.3% in the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 728,934 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $98,538,000 after acquiring an additional 720,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Target by 23,464.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 605,618 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $81,867,000 after purchasing an additional 603,048 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Target from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.37.

Target Stock Performance

Target stock opened at $93.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.35 and a fifty-two week high of $169.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $109.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.28.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

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.