BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Shares Down 3.3% After Insider Selling

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)’s stock price dropped 3.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $79.78 and last traded at $79.84. Approximately 1,284,880 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 1,519,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.56.

Specifically, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.07.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.74 and a 200 day moving average of $81.01. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJ. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 158.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,189,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571,709 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter worth $81,646,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter worth $50,994,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 143.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 201.8% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 591,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,966,000 after purchasing an additional 395,573 shares during the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.