First Financial Bank Trust Division Decreases Stock Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,292 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after selling 2,037 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division's holdings in TJX Companies were worth $2,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 29,168 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,128 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 736,616 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $88,992,000 after purchasing an additional 67,853 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 167,169 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $20,196,000 after purchasing an additional 29,158 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 5.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 144,113 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 13,036 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on TJX. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $147.00 target price (up from $137.00) on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $164.00 price objective (up from $154.00) on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.53.

TJX Companies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:TJX traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $127.25. 1,560,928 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,240,013. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.88. 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 TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a PEG 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $13.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.01 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. TJX Companies's payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, 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 at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.