AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 5,831 Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 1,251.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,059,000 after acquiring an additional 130,676 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,502,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,310,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter worth $2,064,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,150,000 after buying an additional 40,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on BJRI shares. Oppenheimer downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJRI opened at $32.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $735.15 million, a P/E ratio of 47.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.67 and its 200 day moving average is $34.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $41.72.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.12. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $344.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.48 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BJ’s Restaurants Profile

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.