22,995 Shares in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Purchased by Martingale Asset Management L P

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P has acquired approximately 22,995 shares of BJ's Restaurants, valued at around $788,000, increasing its stake to about 0.10% of the company.
• BJ's Restaurants reported $0.97 per share earnings, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.69, with a revenue of $365.60 million for the quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on BJ's Restaurants, with price targets ranging from $33.00 to $44.00, indicating a potential bullish outlook on the stock.

Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 22,995 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $788,000. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.10% of BJ's Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 837,031 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,409,000 after purchasing an additional 161,495 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 277,874 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,763,000 after buying an additional 104,490 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,642,000 after buying an additional 78,852 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 243,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,547,000 after acquiring an additional 75,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 10.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 773,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $26,501,000 after acquiring an additional 74,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BJRI shares. Benchmark upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock traded down $0.38 on Friday, reaching $33.31. 238,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 445,554. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.89 and a 1-year high of $47.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $736.73 million, a PE ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $362.74 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $145,541.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $252,611.84. This represents a 36.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total transaction of $338,090.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,044.53. The trade was a 71.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is owned by 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.