BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,196 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 102.9% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 124,838 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,495,000 after buying an additional 63,299 shares during the period. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $1,200,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 49.8% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,252 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 45,267 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 166.3% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 65,454 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,536,000 after buying an additional 40,878 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 416.8% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 47,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 38,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of BJRI stock opened at $32.59 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.58. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.64 and a 1-year high of $38.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $762.61 million, a PE ratio of 39.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $323.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.03 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $8,598,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BJRI. TheStreet raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.30.

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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.