BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 65.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 129,976 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.30% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $2,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,785,000 after buying an additional 4,163 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $578,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $32.25 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.70. The company has a market capitalization of $754.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.64 and a 1 year high of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.21. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 2.19%. The firm had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BJRI. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Benchmark lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $497,007. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.