Unisphere Establishment Purchases 168,500 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Unisphere Establishment increased its position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,422,500 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,500 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies comprises about 1.5% of Unisphere Establishment’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Unisphere Establishment’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $171,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 13,036 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $433,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 2.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new stake in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $604,000. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on TJX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

TJX Companies stock opened at $128.14 on Wednesday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $93.39 and a one year high of $131.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.13 and a 200 day moving average of $121.65. 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 stock has a market cap of $143.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. 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 payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

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.