Cynosure Group LLC Trims Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Cynosure Group LLC lessened its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,235 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $11,998,201,000 after purchasing an additional 578,948 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in TJX Companies by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,556,435 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $5,589,783,000 after purchasing an additional 469,287 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,930,965,000 after buying an additional 464,995 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,670,565,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 9.9% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 657,529 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TJX Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

TJX stock opened at $124.99 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $140.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $128.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.31.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TJX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.06.

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.