Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 478,048 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,307,308 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 478,048 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $278,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in TJX Companies by 42.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 231,481 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $27,208,000 after buying an additional 69,489 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 14.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 29,956 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $3,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,867 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 3,015 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in TJX Companies by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 578,724 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $68,023,000 after buying an additional 24,963 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was 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 Price Performance

Shares of TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.37. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $128.33. The stock has a market cap of $137.06 billion, a PE 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.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. Analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TJX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

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.