Short Interest in BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Drops By 14.3%

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,880,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the December 15th total of 8,030,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total transaction of $940,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 423,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,221,502.24. This represents a 2.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 34,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,122,000 after buying an additional 8,736 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 151.2% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1,978.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after acquiring an additional 47,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm raised their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:BJ traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 813,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.00. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1 year low of $64.06 and a 1 year high of $100.74.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.29. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Company 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.