Bank of America Corp DE Sells 86,918 Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 86.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,936 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 86,918 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.06% of BJ's Restaurants worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 110,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 110,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $574,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ BJRI traded down $0.69 on Friday, reaching $43.24. The company had a trading volume of 301,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,217. The firm has a market cap of $956.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.58. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week high of $45.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. The firm's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BJRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

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.