BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Price Down 3.2% - Here's What Happened

Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) traded down 3.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $43.45 and last traded at $43.03. Approximately 18,464 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 385,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $43.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.72. The company has a market cap of $953.15 million, a P/E ratio of 45.84, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.56.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.20. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the director owned 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. This represents a 88.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $4,502,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3,594.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,670 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.6% during 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,076 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 198.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,603 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 7,712 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.