Empowered Funds LLC Buys 8,492 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 75,444 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,492 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $11,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in Target by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Target by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Target by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Target by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in Target by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 806 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.57. 196,394 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,916,530. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.52. The company has a market cap of $70.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $127.19 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Target’s payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.