Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 954 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,665 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $8,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 1,196 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 5,623 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 3,757 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on TJX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $132.00 in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.29.

TJX Companies Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of TJX stock traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $97.44. The company had a trading volume of 6,229,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,095,990. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.91 and a 200 day moving average of $94.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $110.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.87. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.65 and a 1-year high of $102.84.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel and home fashions retailer to purchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

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.