15,700 BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Shares Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 433.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,324 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.09% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,006,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $9,476,000. Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $8,715,047. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,516,000. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $3,990,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $61.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.16. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.36 and a 12 month high of $74.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, Director C Richmond bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.05 per share, with a total value of $30,525.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 36,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,228,325. This trade represents a 1.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noah A. Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total transaction of $528,504.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 71,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,025,881.70. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc (NASDAQ: BJRI) operates and develops casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu centered on deep-dish pizza, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, desserts and other American-style dishes.

The company is also known for producing and serving craft beer, including its proprietary BJ’s beers, at many of its locations. Its restaurants typically combine full-service dining with a brewery-inspired atmosphere and offer dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering services, depending on the location.

BJ’s traces its origins to 1978, when the first restaurant opened in Southern California.