Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,538 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 128,679 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $10,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TJX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,135,688 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $8,455,660,000 after buying an additional 392,783 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,008,484 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $4,622,514,000 after buying an additional 6,036,764 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,752,978 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,200,045,000 after buying an additional 371,163 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,734,141 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,220,690,000 after buying an additional 313,530 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,054,237 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $804,741,000 after buying an additional 83,643 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. In other news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at $51,053,982.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX stock traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $94.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,798,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,983,837. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.74. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.65 and a 1 year high of $102.84. The stock has a market cap of $106.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel and home fashions retailer to repurchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.