After releasing a statement, Target is now denying it announced a $5 billion stock buyback boost and an increase in its dividend.
The original release posted to the retailer's website announced a 7.7 percent dividend rise along with an expansion of the company's share repurchase program to $10 billion from $5 billion.
Target's board was slated to vote Tuesday evening on the matter and a number of Web links were being tested, according to a source familiar with the matter. No votes have yet taken place on a share buyback or dividend increase making it appear the post was made inadvertently.
Target shares were little changed when CNBC reported news of the release around 3:20 p.m. ET and remained flat after the company denied the report.
The dividend hike would have been the 44th consecutive year the Minneapolis-based retailer has increased its dividend, according to the release Target has now taken down.
A Target spokesperson reiterated roughly 30 minutes after the post to the company's website that "there has been no release from Target."
The original post also included a statement from John Mulligan, Target's executive vice president and CFO, saying, "Today's announcements reinforce Target's long history of thoughtfully returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase."