Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 4,578 Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,926 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in BJ's Wholesale Club were worth $4,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BJ's Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter valued at about $135,344,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 658.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,523,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,425 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in BJ's Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,550,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,268,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $470,775,000 after purchasing an additional 504,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,330,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,218,000 after buying an additional 245,731 shares during the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $108.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $87.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued 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 $110.82.

BJ's Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE:BJ traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.57. 1,883,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,652,378. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.54. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.81 and a 12 month high of $121.10. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $109.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total transaction of $1,270,960.67. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,351 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,924.09. This represents a 32.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 2,100 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.74, for a total value of $251,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,705,097.60. This represents a 12.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 328,505 shares of company stock valued at $37,452,686 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BJ's Wholesale Club Profile

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.