BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Stock Holdings Cut by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in BJ's Wholesale Club by 11.2% in Q1, now owning approximately $15.24 million worth of stock.
• Bank of New York Mellon Corp significantly increased its stake in BJ's by 199.7%, owning nearly 3 million shares valued at around $340.76 million.
• Analysts have mostly rated BJ's stock as a "Moderate Buy", with a consensus price target of $111.00 and notable firms like JPMorgan raising their price objective to $123.00.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,562 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,929 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of BJ's Wholesale Club worth $15,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BJ. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in BJ's Wholesale Club by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 288 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the first quarter worth $33,000. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BJ's Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other BJ's Wholesale Club news, Director Steven L. Ortega acquired 1,740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $114.60 per share, with a total value of $199,404.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $990,258.60. This represents a 25.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 17,900 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.08, for a total value of $1,916,732.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 368,333 shares in the company, valued at $39,441,097.64. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,625 shares of company stock valued at $8,595,110. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BJ. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on BJ's Wholesale Club from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Argus upgraded BJ's Wholesale Club to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.00.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $105.13. 1,288,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,481. The firm has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $121.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company's 50-day moving average is $109.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.96.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. BJ's Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.