Maverick Capital Ltd. Sells 15,884 Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI

Key Points

• Maverick Capital Ltd. reduced its stake in BJ's Restaurants, cutting its shares by 40.9% to a total of 22,962 shares valued at approximately $787,000.
• Institutional investors now hold 99.95% of BJ's Restaurants, with significant investments from firms such as GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS Asset Management.
• BJ's Restaurants recently reported an EPS of $0.97, exceeding estimates, and brokerages have adjusted their price targets, with a consensus target of $39.67.

Maverick Capital Ltd. lessened its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 40.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,962 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 15,884 shares during the quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of BJ's Restaurants worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth $254,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3,594.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,670 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $310,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,350,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,076 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.67.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.56. The stock had a trading volume of 488,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,659. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.89. The company has a market capitalization of $742.48 million, a PE ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.89 and a 12 month high of $47.02.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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