Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $8.55 Million Stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 45.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 243,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 75,936 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.07% of BJ's Restaurants worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 1,251.3% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BJRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Wedbush upped their target price on BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.20.

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 transaction, the director now owns 19,896 shares in the company, valued at $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $44.60. 505,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,932. The company's 50 day moving average is $36.68 and its 200-day moving average is $36.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $986.37 million, a PE ratio of 65.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week high of $45.64.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company earned $0.32 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share 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.