Nicolet Bankshares Inc. Acquires 311 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. lifted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,859 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 311 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $1,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in TJX Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $11,998,201,000 after purchasing an additional 578,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,930,965,000 after acquiring an additional 464,995 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,670,565,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,753,021 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,057,452,000 after purchasing an additional 363,879 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in TJX Companies by 9.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,271,499 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $837,951,000 after purchasing an additional 657,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

TJX Companies stock opened at $128.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $121.55 and its 200-day moving average is $120.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $129.02.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies 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 directly owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

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.