Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes Position in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BJ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter valued at about $135,344,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 658.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,523,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,425 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth about $85,550,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3,526.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 595,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,214,000 after acquiring an additional 579,150 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,268,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,775,000 after acquiring an additional 504,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.74, for a total transaction of $251,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,705,097.60. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total transaction of $1,270,960.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,619,924.09. This represents a 32.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 328,505 shares of company stock worth $37,452,686. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Trading Up 4.7%

BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $116.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $121.10.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.29 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BJ. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.06.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry.