BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.29 and traded as high as $34.71. BJ's Restaurants shares last traded at $34.57, with a volume of 260,267 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BJRI. Barclays dropped their target price on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark cut BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ's Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.43.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 2.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.48 and a 200-day moving average of $33.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $827.99 million, a PE ratio of 35.41, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.12.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. BJ's Restaurants's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 247.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $187,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.