Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,566,053 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,728 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.18% of BJ's Wholesale Club worth $129,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 375.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total transaction of $873,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at $35,395,884.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $873,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,395,884.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total value of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $2,818,390 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BJ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BJ's Wholesale Club from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America decreased their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Roth Mkm raised their target price on BJ's Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised BJ's Wholesale Club from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.33.

BJ's Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE:BJ traded up $0.96 on Friday, reaching $90.29. 932,941 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,443. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.41. The firm has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.24. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.08 and a 12 month high of $92.37.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. BJ's Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current 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.