D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Raises Stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277,874 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 104,490 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 1.22% of BJ's Restaurants worth $9,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BJRI. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 1,251.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 0.6%

BJ's Restaurants stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.07. 94,847 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,647. The firm has a market cap of $952.43 million, a PE ratio of 63.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.53. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $45.22.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $347.97 million during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,941.28. This represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

BJ's Restaurants 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.