Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,949 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $570,342,000. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,068,000. Provident Trust Co. grew its position in TJX Companies by 71.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,133,486 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in TJX Companies by 161.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,786,652 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $210,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 39.1% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upped their target price on TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.06.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of TJX stock opened at $112.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.24. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $128.00. The company has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.