Ruggaard & Associates LLC Lowers Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Ruggaard & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 41.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,062 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,987 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,338 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 7,696 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup raised shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TJX Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Price Performance

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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.38. The company has a market cap of $136.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 39.91%.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.