Vestcor Inc Takes Position in BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc acquired 10,567 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings for approximately $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2023.
• Analysts have shown confidence in BJ's Wholesale Club, with eleven analysts giving a "buy" rating and a price target increase from $109.00 to $123.00 by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Insider trading activity included the purchase of 1,740 shares by Director Steven Ortega, reflecting a significant increase in his ownership, while EVP Paul Cichocki sold 43,825 shares, reducing his stake by 20.25%.

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BJ. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BJ's Wholesale Club by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,093 shares of the company's stock worth $11,266,000 after acquiring an additional 33,026 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 18,530 shares of the company's stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,894 shares of the company's stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in BJ's Wholesale Club by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,486,903 shares of the company's stock worth $222,205,000 after purchasing an additional 99,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BJ. 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. DA Davidson lifted their price target on 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on BJ's Wholesale Club from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $129.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ's Wholesale Club presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.00.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Performance

BJ stock traded up $4.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $110.01. 2,999,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,528,291. 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 current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $108.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.37. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.43.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 31.98% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Paul Cichocki sold 43,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $4,673,936.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 172,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,403,843.95. This represents a 20.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven L. Ortega purchased 1,740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $114.60 per share, for a total transaction of $199,404.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,641 shares in the company, valued at $990,258.60. This trade represents a 25.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 79,625 shares of company stock worth $8,595,110 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BJ's Wholesale Club 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.