Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 1,869 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,630 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $1,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TJX. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in TJX Companies by 1.1% during 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 buying an additional 13,036 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $433,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in TJX Companies by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 81,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $9,795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

TJX Companies stock opened at $121.92 on Friday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $128.33. The company has a market cap of $136.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.38.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. Analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.