Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 62.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $239,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 49.8% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,252 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 45,267 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $549,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 3.1% during the third quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 61,539 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

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

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $33.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $778.65 million, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.64 and a 1 year high of $38.76.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 1.80%. The business had revenue of $337.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BJRI shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.30.

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