BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Position Lifted by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 3,594.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,670 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.06% of BJ's Restaurants worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. US Bancorp DE raised its position 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $200,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $203,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,941.28. The trade was a 44.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $44.41. 344,417 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,187. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $46.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.93. The company has a market capitalization of $982.35 million, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.58.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The firm's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BJRI. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.