Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $54.75 Million Holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. $BJ

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 608,156 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176,325 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club were worth $54,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BJ. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth $75,000. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.02, for a total value of $728,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 306,330 shares in the company, valued at $27,882,156.60. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 2,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.19, for a total transaction of $186,939.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,346,785.11. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BJ shares. Melius Research lowered shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. William Blair reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.63.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE:BJ opened at $92.84 on Friday. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $86.68 and a one year high of $120.08. The company has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.70% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. BJ’s Wholesale Club has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ’s Wholesale Club, headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, is a membership-based warehouse retailer offering a wide range of products and services primarily to small businesses and individual consumers. The company operates large-format clubs that provide value-priced groceries, health and beauty products, electronics, home goods, furniture, seasonal items and automotive supplies. In addition to its in-club offerings, BJ’s features fuel stations at many locations and operates an e-commerce platform for online ordering and home delivery.

Founded in 1984 as a division of Zayre Corp., BJ’s Wholesale Club quickly expanded throughout the Northeastern United States.