Aviance Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Target Corporation $TGT

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 61.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,943 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,684 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Target by 16.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 580 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 3.4% during the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 2,951 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,163 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TGT shares. Freedom Capital lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Target from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Target from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Target from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Argus set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total transaction of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of TGT stock opened at $139.93 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.98. Target Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $144.40.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The firm had revenue of $25.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

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

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.