Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,773,923 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after selling 1,920,938 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies accounts for approximately 1.5% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.34% of TJX Companies worth $455,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,228,840 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $148,456,000 after buying an additional 13,036 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TJX Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $433,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 81,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $9,795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $604,000. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $135.76.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on TJX Companies
TJX Companies Price Performance
TJX stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $121.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,081,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,308,908. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.42. The company has a market capitalization of $135.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $128.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50.
TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio is 39.91%.
Insider Activity at TJX Companies
In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About TJX Companies
(
Free Report)
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.
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