Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 103,681 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,764,646 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 103,681 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $575,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC bought a new position in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in TJX Companies during the third quarter valued at $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.37. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $128.33.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of TJX Companies 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on TJX shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.