Jefferies Financial Group Raises BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Price Target to $110.00

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its price target lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BJ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America cut their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Melius Research began coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.50.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $96.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.24. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $63.73 and a 52 week high of $97.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total transaction of $940,170.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 423,792 shares in the company, valued at $36,221,502.24. The trade was a 2.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,000 shares of company stock worth $2,734,820. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,357,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,184,175,000 after acquiring an additional 966,528 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,439,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,118,000 after purchasing an additional 217,385 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 158.9% during the second 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,045,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,680,000 after buying an additional 45,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,387,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,929,000 after buying an additional 896,263 shares during the period. 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.