Chase Investment Counsel Corp Sells 611 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lowered its position in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,015 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 611 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies makes up about 1.4% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $3,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TJX. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 35.5% in 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 buying an additional 19,236 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 3.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 21,767 shares during the period. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in TJX Companies in the third quarter valued at about $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 5,737 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 109.1% in the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $13,239,000 after buying an additional 77,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,968,480.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,968,480.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on TJX. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.65.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TJX traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $95.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,451,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,014,001. 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 TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.65 and a 52 week high of $102.84. The firm has a market cap of $108.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.94.

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

TJX Companies announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel and home fashions retailer to reacquire up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

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.