New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Position in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club were worth $10,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,073,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,569,000 after buying an additional 20,703 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the third quarter worth about $685,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 46.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 558,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,872,000 after buying an additional 176,494 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 342.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 233,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,639,000 after buying an additional 180,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 64.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 131,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,375,000 after buying an additional 51,349 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,815,091.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,815,091.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 84,262 shares of company stock valued at $6,261,153 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $79.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.73. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $79.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.20.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 40.84% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

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.