The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) Shares Acquired by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,832 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TJX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,135,688 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $8,455,660,000 after purchasing an additional 392,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,008,484 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $4,622,514,000 after buying an additional 6,036,764 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,752,978 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,200,045,000 after buying an additional 371,163 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,734,141 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,220,690,000 after acquiring an additional 313,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,054,237 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $804,741,000 after acquiring an additional 83,643 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on TJX. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Redburn Atlantic lowered TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.65.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TJX stock opened at $96.36 on Friday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.65 and a 52 week high of $102.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel and home fashions retailer to purchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

TJX Companies Company 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.