Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $1.17 Million Position in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants, Inc., purchasing 34,107 shares worth approximately $1.17 million, representing about 0.15% of the company.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for BJ's Restaurants, with a consensus target of $38.80 and ratings including one "buy," four "hold," and two "sell" ratings.
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales, with Brian S. Krakower and Director Greg Trojan reducing their holdings by 44.94% and 88.01%, respectively.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 34,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,169,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.15% of BJ's Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $97,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BJRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,941.28. This represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,896 shares of the company's stock, 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. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $34.17 on Friday. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.11. The firm has a market cap of $755.84 million, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $365.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.74 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.84%. BJ's Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

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.

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