Unigestion Holding SA Buys 23,138 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Unigestion Holding SA increased its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 216,291 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,138 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies makes up approximately 1.5% of Unigestion Holding SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $26,126,000 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. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 11,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,282,824 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $154,978,000 after acquiring an additional 190,817 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its position in TJX Companies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 13,916 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 464,559 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $56,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,307,308 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $278,826,000 after purchasing an additional 478,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on TJX. Citigroup upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on 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 lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $136.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. 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 of $121.69 and a 200-day moving average of $120.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.