Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 1,920,938 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,773,923 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,920,938 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies accounts for about 1.5% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $455,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,228,840 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $148,456,000 after buying an additional 13,036 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $433,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its position in TJX Companies by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 81,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $9,795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in TJX Companies by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at TJX Companies

In related news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of TJX Companies stock opened at $121.92 on Friday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $128.33. The firm has a market cap of $137.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average of $120.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The business had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TJX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

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.