Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Boosts Stock Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 464,559 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $56,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $11,998,201,000 after acquiring an additional 578,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in TJX Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,930,965,000 after purchasing an additional 464,995 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,670,565,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,271,499 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $837,951,000 after buying an additional 657,529 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,031,237 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $850,428,000 after buying an additional 827,103 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by insiders.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. 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 TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $128.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.38.

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 39.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TJX shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.