Marshall Wace LLP Sells 284,995 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 78.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,122 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 284,995 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $8,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 260.3% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 245 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in TJX Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TJX Companies Price Performance

NYSE:TJX opened at $117.50 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $132.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.89. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $86.71 and a one year high of $121.13.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 63.19%. The firm had revenue of $13.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 37.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $134.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup downgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on TJX Companies from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on TJX Companies from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.54, for a total value of $1,763,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 536,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,018,835.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.