Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 25,582 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,502 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 25,582 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in TJX Companies were worth $27,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TJX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,670,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $570,342,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in TJX Companies by 689.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,595,085 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $313,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266,415 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth $140,068,000. Finally, Provident Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,723,149 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $328,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,486 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TJX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised TJX Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

TJX stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.53. 5,612,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,384,180. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $121.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.18. The firm has a market cap of $140.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, 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 TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.39 and a 1-year high of $131.30.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. 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 1.35%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm'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 owned by corporate insiders.

About TJX Companies

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.