Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 116,200 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,064,048 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 116,200 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.09% of TJX Companies worth $128,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in TJX Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $11,998,201,000 after acquiring an additional 578,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $2,930,965,000 after purchasing an additional 464,995 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in TJX Companies by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,647,792 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,769,600,000 after purchasing an additional 626,739 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,670,565,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in TJX Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,753,021 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $1,057,452,000 after buying an additional 363,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on TJX. Citigroup raised shares of TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Price Performance

TJX traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $126.64. The company had a trading volume of 4,205,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,366,932. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.39 and a twelve month high of $131.30. The company has a market capitalization of $141.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $121.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.40.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. Equities research analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a boost from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies's payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

TJX Companies Profile

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.