Qtron Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Qtron Investments LLC trimmed its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,001 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 781 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $11,998,201,000 after buying an additional 578,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 464,995 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $1,670,565,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in TJX Companies by 4.3% in 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 buying an additional 363,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 9.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 657,529 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TJX Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

TJX Companies stock opened at $128.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.66. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $129.02. The firm has a market cap of $143.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. Analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. 0.13% of the stock is 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.