Sit Investment Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,870 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 8,920 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $20,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Aviva PLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 113.6% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,216,486 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $146,964,000 after acquiring an additional 646,934 shares in the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its stake in TJX Companies by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 15,824 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the period. Dempze Nancy E raised its holdings in TJX Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 36,245 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $44,929,000. Finally, Kidder Stephen W grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 75,522 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $9,124,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TJX Companies Price Performance

Shares of TJX Companies stock opened at $121.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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 quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.37. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $128.33.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.24 billion. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 insiders.

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.