BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Shares Down 4.4% After Insider Selling

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) fell 4.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $71.86 and last traded at $71.97. 1,586,578 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 1,418,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.28.

Specifically, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 173,294 shares in the company, valued at $12,815,091.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,410,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $5,402,934.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,840 shares of company stock worth $7,408,605. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 40.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 45.3% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 668 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.