BJ’s Wholesale Club Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BJ)

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 2,732 call options on the company. This is an increase of 50% compared to the typical volume of 1,821 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BJ. Loop Capital upped their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $108.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.71.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total transaction of $1,270,960.67. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,619,924.09. This represents a 32.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP William C. Werner sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.41, for a total value of $2,208,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,456,716.28. This represents a 38.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 652.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 624 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE BJ traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, reaching $110.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,499. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $71.81 and a 52 week high of $118.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.99.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.29 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. Sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.96 EPS for the current 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.