Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Has $1.15 Million Stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 26.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,708 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 11,679 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.14% of BJ's Restaurants worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,284 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 110,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 110,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $574,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value 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 represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. This trade represents a 88.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

BJRI stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.83. 843,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 369,915. 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 52 week low of $27.61 and a 52 week high of $45.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $991.46 million, a PE ratio of 65.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.20. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.20.

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.