Millennium Management LLC Sells 203,110 Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Millennium Management LLC lowered its position in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,851 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 203,110 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.67% of BJ's Restaurants worth $5,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in BJ's Restaurants by 1,251.3% during 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 and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other BJ's Restaurants news, 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on BJRI shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.60. 505,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,932. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $45.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $986.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. The firm had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.