BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Down 4.8% After Insider Selling

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) shares fell 4.8% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $42.55 and last traded at $42.69. 87,729 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 378,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.83.

Specifically, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $6,520,532.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,896 shares in the company, valued at $887,958.48. This trade represents a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.20.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.46. The company has a market cap of $947.71 million, a PE ratio of 62.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.70 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 103.2% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,700,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,269,000 after acquiring an additional 863,749 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,642,000 after purchasing an additional 78,852 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 773,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,501,000 after buying an additional 74,101 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 583,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,513,000 after purchasing an additional 14,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 416,709 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,641,000 after purchasing an additional 92,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, entrées, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, and desserts under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.