Ackman’s Pershing Square slashes stake in Target

New York City Activist shareholder William Ackman has reduced his stake in Target Corp. to 4.4% from 7.8% of the retailer's outstanding shares, according to a regulatory filing by the discounter Tuesday.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission comes a little more than two months after Ackman, who runs hedge fund company Pershing Square Capital Management, lost his bid to elect five of his own candidates, including himself, to Target's board, replacing four incumbents.

Ackman had charged that the board needed new members with perspective in retail, credit and real estate markets to compete effectively with chief rival Wal-Mart Stores, and to help boost the company's stock price.