BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Bought by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 49.8% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,252 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 45,267 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 15.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,651 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,373,000 after purchasing an additional 37,173 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 73.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 62,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 26,364 shares during the last quarter. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,200,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $549,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on BJRI shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. Benchmark lifted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $8,598,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $33.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $778.65 million, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 2.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.03. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.76.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.80% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The company had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.