Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 69,064 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,964,220 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after buying an additional 69,064 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of TJX Companies worth $230,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 35.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,317,452 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 3,255,849 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 134.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,467,797 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $602,004,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 33.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,241,176 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $1,347,934,000 after acquiring an additional 3,063,318 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in TJX Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $315,698,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 80.6% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,943,176 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $324,044,000 after buying an additional 1,313,517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.54, for a total transaction of $1,763,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 536,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,018,835.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,038,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,228,056. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $116.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.39. The firm has a market cap of $133.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.89. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $87.26 and a one year high of $121.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 63.19% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $13.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. TJX Companies's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on TJX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on TJX Companies from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $114.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $134.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $126.76.

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.