Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Stock Price

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

BJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set 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 ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.81.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ traded up $3.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.74. 2,958,244 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,499,190. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.24. BJ's Wholesale Club has a fifty-two week low of $63.73 and a fifty-two week high of $97.53. The business's 50 day moving average is $85.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.15 billion. BJ's Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 2.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,133,710.62. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total value of $940,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 423,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,221,502.24. This trade represents a 2.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,818,390. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 375.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company's stock.

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.