Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Raises Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,673 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $5,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $11,998,201,000 after buying an additional 578,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 1.9% in the 4th 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. Capital International Investors increased its position in TJX Companies by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,647,792 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,769,600,000 after purchasing an additional 626,739 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,985,826 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $1,689,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,670,565,000. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 484,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TJX Companies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of TJX Companies stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $126.79. 9,283,152 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,356,579. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $141.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.80 and a 1 year high of $135.85. The stock's fifty day moving average is $126.74 and its 200 day moving average is $123.79.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $13.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.01 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. TJX Companies's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a boost from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on TJX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $164.00 price target (up previously from $154.00) on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $147.00 price objective (up previously from $137.00) on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $150.00 target price on TJX Companies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.65.

TJX Companies 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.