Arizona State Retirement System Sells 483 Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 132,166 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 483 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Target were worth $17,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. State Street Corp increased its position in Target by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732,801 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Target by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,369,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Target by 11.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Target by 773.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Target during the 3rd quarter valued at $106,493,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $116.70 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $112.53 and a 1-year high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.92.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.23.

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.