BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

BJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up previously from $129.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.12.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock traded down $0.79 on Friday, reaching $111.24. 217,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,664,270. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $115.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.22. 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 company has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. BJ's Wholesale Club has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $121.10.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.23. BJ's Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BJ's Wholesale Club will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ's Wholesale Club news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.74, for a total value of $251,454.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,240 shares in the company, valued at $1,705,097.60. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP William C. Werner sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.41, for a total transaction of $2,208,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,456,716.28. The trade was a 38.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 328,505 shares of company stock valued at $37,452,686. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Wholesale Club

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,268,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $470,775,000 after purchasing an additional 504,958 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,366,509 shares of the company's stock worth $498,219,000 after acquiring an additional 35,130 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 65.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,186,760 shares of the company's stock worth $477,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662,415 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 29.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,228,685 shares of the company's stock worth $368,393,000 after acquiring an additional 741,782 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 199.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,986,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $340,759,000 after buying an additional 1,989,980 shares during the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ's Wholesale Club Company Profile

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.