Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX)

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 48,973 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 389% compared to the average daily volume of 10,021 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in TJX Companies by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 231,481 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $27,208,000 after acquiring an additional 69,489 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 10.6% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 3,015 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $238,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in TJX Companies by 691.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 71,837 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $8,444,000 after buying an additional 62,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 238,649 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $28,051,000 after acquiring an additional 53,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TJX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised shares of TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Price Performance

Shares of TJX stock traded down $3.59 on Monday, reaching $124.03. 4,853,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,381,609. TJX Companies has a 1 year low of $93.32 and a 1 year high of $131.30. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $121.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.08. The company has a market cap of $138.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. Equities research analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors 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 1.37%. This is an increase from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio is 39.91%.

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.