United Asset Strategies Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,615 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

United Asset Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,615 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 148.6% during the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 174 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TGT shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Target from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “inline” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Target from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Target Price Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $153.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. Target Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

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.