BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,566,053 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,728 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.19% of BJ’s Wholesale Club worth $129,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 158.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,189,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,044,000 after buying an additional 2,571,709 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,357,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,184,175,000 after acquiring an additional 966,528 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,387,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,929,000 after acquiring an additional 896,263 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4,834.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 625,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,567,000 after acquiring an additional 612,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 143.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 848,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,488,000 after purchasing an additional 499,954 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ stock opened at $93.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.29. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.06 and a one year high of $100.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.35.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total transaction of $940,170.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 423,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,221,502.24. This represents a 2.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Company Profile

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.