Shum Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,033 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of Target by 1.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in shares of Target by 3.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Target by 20.8% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Target by 5.3% during the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Target by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 15,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of TGT traded down $2.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $127.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,280,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,383,997. The company has a market capitalization of $58.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $150.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.31.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Target Co. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $188.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value 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. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.