BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Upgraded to Neutral by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $78.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $76.00.

BJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.07.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

Shares of BJ opened at $84.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52-week low of $63.08 and a 52-week high of $92.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.74.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.90, for a total value of $955,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 467,792 shares in the company, valued at $40,651,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jeff Desroches sold 14,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 87,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,507,284. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.90, for a total transaction of $955,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 467,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,651,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,544 shares of company stock valued at $7,237,084. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the second quarter worth $45,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 394.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

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.