Advisory Services Network LLC Trims Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Advisory Services Network LLC cut its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,706 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,620 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $9,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in TJX Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $11,998,201,000 after acquiring an additional 578,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,930,965,000 after buying an additional 464,995 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,670,565,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,753,021 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,057,452,000 after acquiring an additional 363,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,271,499 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $837,951,000 after purchasing an additional 657,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TJX shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays raised their target price on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment 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.com, TJX Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 currently owned by company insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE TJX opened at $119.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $133.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $128.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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 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 company had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

TJX Companies 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.