Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,136,282 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 590,113 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club were worth $342,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter valued at $5,745,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,073,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,569,000 after acquiring an additional 20,703 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 3rd quarter worth about $685,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 558,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,872,000 after acquiring an additional 176,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 342.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 233,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,639,000 after acquiring an additional 180,397 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $5,402,934.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,815,091.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total transaction of $1,070,082.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,481.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,840 shares of company stock valued at $7,408,605. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE BJ traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.96. 498,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,456,961. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $80.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.64.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 40.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides groceries, general merchandise, gasoline and other ancillary services, coupon books, and promotions. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app.