Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Lowers Stock Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,894 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Target were worth $4,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Little House Capital LLC purchased a new position in Target in the first quarter worth $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Target by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $112,686,000 after buying an additional 122,706 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Target by 11.4% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,618,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares in the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Target during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,958,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its stake in shares of Target by 134.6% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 103,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 59,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on TGT shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Target from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $152.92 on Tuesday. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.10 and a 200 day moving average of $155.07. The stock has a market cap of $70.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Target Co. will post 9.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.