Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,542,886 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,170 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.14% of TJX Companies worth $141,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in TJX Companies by 35.5% during the third quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 73,466 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $6,530,000 after acquiring an additional 19,236 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,482 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $56,613,000 after purchasing an additional 21,767 shares during the last quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 109.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $13,239,000 after purchasing an additional 77,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TJX. UBS Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.29.

TJX Companies Price Performance

Shares of TJX stock traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $98.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,233,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,054,053. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.59. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.65 and a 1 year high of $102.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $111.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.87.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $16.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is presently 34.46%.

TJX Companies Company 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.