Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in Target Corporation $TGT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,100 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,800,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,261,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the 1st quarter valued at about $614,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Target by 102.7% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 4,377 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,753 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,585,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE TGT opened at $140.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.76. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $142.82. The company has a market cap of $63.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.00.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company had revenue of $25.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 60.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on TGT. UBS Group raised their price target on Target from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Target from $132.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wolfe Research raised Target from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Target from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.64.

Insider Transactions at Target

In related news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total transaction of $1,258,900.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Target

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.