Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $1.17 Million 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 acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 34,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,169,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.15% of BJ's Restaurants as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $43,642,000 after purchasing an additional 78,852 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 837,031 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,409,000 after buying an additional 161,495 shares during the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 416,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,641,000 after purchasing an additional 92,285 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 277,874 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,763,000 after purchasing an additional 104,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 259,977 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,134,000 after purchasing an additional 155,109 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BJRI traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 213,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,890. The stock has a market cap of $768.49 million, a PE ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.61 and a 52 week high of $47.02. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.17.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ's Restaurants

In other BJ's Restaurants news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,958.48. This represents a 88.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BJRI has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

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.