37,600 Shares in BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 37,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,506,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 39.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,013,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,142,898,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548,963 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 180.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,615,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $173,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,174 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 145.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,422,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,785 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter valued at $89,816,000. Finally, Eaton Vance Management raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 323.5% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,719,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,206 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BJ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BJ's Wholesale Club from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Gordon Haskett downgraded BJ's Wholesale Club from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.40.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE BJ traded down $0.98 on Wednesday, hitting $75.28. 3,372,849 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,419,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $73.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.34. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $80.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.26.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 173,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,840 shares of company stock worth $7,408,605 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

BJ's Wholesale Club Profile

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.