Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,048 The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,048 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 29,168 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $3,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,128 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 736,616 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $88,992,000 after buying an additional 67,853 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 167,169 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $20,196,000 after buying an additional 29,158 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 2,891,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $349,284,000 after buying an additional 144,113 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 13,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TJX. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of TJX Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.65.

Insider Transactions at TJX Companies

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:TJX traded down $0.28 on Friday, hitting $126.79. 9,364,867 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,254,415. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $126.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.70 and a 52 week high of $135.85. The company has a market cap of $141.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. 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. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. TJX Companies's payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.