The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) Shares Acquired by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 84.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $1,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $1,670,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $570,342,000. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,068,000. Provident Trust Co. increased its holdings in TJX Companies by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,723,149 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $328,984,000 after buying an additional 1,133,486 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in TJX Companies by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,658,245 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $441,953,000 after buying an additional 1,027,456 shares during the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In other news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $128.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.38.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on TJX. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Company 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.