32,943 Shares in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Acquired by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 32,943 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,157,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of BJ's Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $4,502,000. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 583,828 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,513,000 after buying an additional 14,607 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 198.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,603 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 7,712 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 259,977 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,134,000 after acquiring an additional 155,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $574,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of BJRI stock traded down $0.73 on Tuesday, reaching $42.09. 379,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 368,768. 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 50-day moving average of $35.14 and a 200-day moving average of $35.57. The company has a market cap of $930.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.90, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $27.61 and a one year high of $45.22.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. BJ's Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. This represents 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,941.28. The trade was 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 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.