Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 221 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 692 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $65,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its position in TJX Companies by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,177 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 4.8% during the third quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.5% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,720 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 3.3% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,728 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on TJX shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Redburn Atlantic lowered TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

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

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TJX traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $101.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,896,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,013,564. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.65 and a 1 year high of $102.84. 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 stock has a market cap of $114.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.88.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 64.18%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.