Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,710 Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,710 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TGT. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Target in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Target in the third quarter worth about $38,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TGT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Target from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock opened at $152.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Target Co. has a 1 year low of $127.19 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a market cap of $70.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $152.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.34.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $25.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.28%.

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.