First County Bank CT Sells 1,322 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

First County Bank CT trimmed its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 16.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,875 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 22.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 818,212 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $82,983,000 after purchasing an additional 149,678 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in TJX Companies by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,800 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $458,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,067,202 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $108,236,000 after buying an additional 136,002 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 3.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 43,107 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Price Performance

Shares of TJX opened at $119.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.14. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.44 and a 52-week high of $122.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.89.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 63.19%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.54, for a total transaction of $1,763,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 536,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,018,835.92. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $114.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TJX Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.35.

TJX Companies 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.