Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,891 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in TJX Companies were worth $4,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in TJX Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $306,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 155.9% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 12,061 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,347 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 3.2% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,694 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 75,345 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $8,296,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 594.8% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 41,771 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $4,599,000 after purchasing an additional 35,759 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on TJX. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on TJX Companies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $134.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.33.

TJX Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TJX traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $121.89. 4,752,383 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,388,107. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $128.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.95 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The business's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.29%.

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.