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

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 65.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 69,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 129,976 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter worth $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $57,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $187,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

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

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJRI stock opened at $32.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.70. The firm has a market cap of $754.10 million, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.35. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.64 and a 1 year high of $38.87.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BJRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

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.