HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,401 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 375.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 394.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 628 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total transaction of $940,170.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 423,792 shares in the company, valued at $36,221,502.24. This represents a 2.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.56.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BJ opened at $97.59 on Tuesday. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.06 and a 1 year high of $100.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.19. 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 $12.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.29.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.29. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.95 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.