Congress Asset Management Co. MA Decreases Stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA decreased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 83.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,158,681 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned about 0.18% of BJ’s Wholesale Club worth $17,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,136,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,385,000 after acquiring an additional 590,113 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,940,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,229,000 after buying an additional 369,317 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,647,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,174,000 after purchasing an additional 150,414 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,514,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,625,000 after buying an additional 377,019 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,688,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,500,000 after acquiring an additional 467,575 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BJ. Barclays increased their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.06.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE BJ opened at $88.49 on Friday. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.06 and a 1-year high of $90.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.84. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.24.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 37.78%. BJ’s Wholesale Club’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, EVP Jeff Desroches sold 14,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,213,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,294 shares in the company, valued at $7,507,284. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction of $843,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Desroches sold 14,106 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,116.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,294 shares in the company, valued at $7,507,284. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,684 shares of company stock valued at $3,204,268 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.