Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,113 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 4,498 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $6,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 13,309.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,191,155 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $140,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,272 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 161.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,786,652 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $210,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,912 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 281.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,235,037 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $145,166,000 after purchasing an additional 911,351 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 564.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,064,217 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $128,568,000 after purchasing an additional 903,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,031,237 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $850,428,000 after purchasing an additional 827,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on TJX. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $134.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.53.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE TJX opened at $124.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $128.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $123.27 and a 200-day moving average of $118.59. The stock has a market cap of $140.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.91.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

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.