BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Down 3.2% - Should You Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BJRI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ's Restaurants has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 3.3%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $43.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $921.52 million, a P/E ratio of 44.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 12.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 14.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,617 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

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.