Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 1,310 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA reduced its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 410,330 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the period. TJX Companies makes up 2.7% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $38,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $6,530,000 after buying an additional 19,236 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 3.7% in 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 buying an additional 21,767 shares during the period. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the third quarter valued at about $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 42.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank grew 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 purchasing an additional 77,711 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped 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 issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $104.00 to $132.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.29.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $98.78. The stock had a trading volume of 873,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,062,899. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.65 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market cap of $111.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.29.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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

TJX Companies declared that its board has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of TJX Companies 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 in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other TJX Companies news, 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 transaction of $266,248.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.