American Century Companies Inc. Buys 150,205 Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) by 66.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377,036 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150,205 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club were worth $33,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJ. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,763,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,926,000 after purchasing an additional 337,217 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,045,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,680,000 after buying an additional 45,288 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,770,000 after acquiring an additional 34,940 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 11.0% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,371,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,094,000 after acquiring an additional 136,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 990,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,465,000 after acquiring an additional 27,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BJ. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $108.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $87.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.71.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BJ stock opened at $111.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.70. BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.81 and a 1 year high of $118.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.07. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.29 billion. Research analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

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

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.