Banco Santander S.A. Decreases Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 67.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,586 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,294 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Target were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 156.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Target in the second quarter valued at $37,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $125.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.61.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.58 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Insider Activity at Target

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995 over the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Target from $167.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.13.

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.