BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Shares Down 4.4% on Insider Selling

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 4.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $71.86 and last traded at $71.97. Approximately 1,586,578 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 1,418,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.28.

Specifically, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $77,370.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $77,370.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total value of $1,070,082.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,545 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,481.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,840 shares of company stock valued at $7,408,605. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BJ's Wholesale Club from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on BJ's Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded BJ's Wholesale Club from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BJ's Wholesale Club has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.40.

BJ's Wholesale Club Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Wholesale Club

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BJ. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,013,702 shares of the company's stock worth $1,142,898,000 after buying an additional 4,548,963 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 180.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,615,939 shares of the company's stock worth $173,071,000 after buying an additional 1,684,174 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 145.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,422,594 shares of the company's stock worth $163,792,000 after buying an additional 1,436,785 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter worth $89,816,000. Finally, Eaton Vance Management raised its position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 323.5% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,719,134 shares of the company's stock worth $116,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,206 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company's stock.

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.