Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,426 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 9,774 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $2,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 389 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 478 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TJX Companies Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TJX stock opened at $95.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.87. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.65 and a 1-year high of $102.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.06.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 64.18%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel and home fashions retailer to reacquire up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.46%.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TJX shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.29.

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.