First Trust Advisors LP Has $2.54 Million Stock Holdings in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,341 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 8,968 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.32% of BJ's Restaurants worth $2,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BJRI. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 259,977 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,134,000 after buying an additional 155,109 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $4,502,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $14,641,000 after purchasing an additional 92,285 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 699,434 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,575,000 after purchasing an additional 79,512 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,196,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

BJ's Restaurants stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 381,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,029. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $872.56 million, a PE ratio of 57.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.61 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.24.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BJRI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Company 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.