Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 11,274 Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 11,274 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of BJ's Restaurants worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 1,251.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $44.94. 490,610 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,232. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $45.80. 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 market cap of $993.89 million, a P/E ratio of 66.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $37.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.20.

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

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BJRI shares. Barclays boosted 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. Wedbush lifted their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on BJ's Restaurants 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 issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.