The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) Holdings Raised by Nicholas Investment Partners LP

Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) by 115.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,947 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 20,843 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP's holdings in TJX Companies were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TJX. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in TJX Companies by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 73,466 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $6,530,000 after buying an additional 19,236 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in TJX Companies by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,482 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $56,613,000 after acquiring an additional 21,767 shares during the period. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the third quarter worth $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 109.1% during the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $13,239,000 after purchasing an additional 77,711 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group raised TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $104.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of TJX Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

TJX Companies stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,243,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,073,665. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.65 and a 52-week high of $102.84. The firm's 50 day moving average is $96.86 and its 200 day moving average is $94.59. The company has a market cap of $111.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.87.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 64.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is an increase from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.46%.

TJX Companies announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel and home fashions retailer to repurchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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