This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Some BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President, Gregory Levin, recently sold a substantial US$512k worth of stock at a price of US$51.20 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 21%, which is notable but not too bad.

Check out our latest analysis for BJ's Restaurants

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At BJ's Restaurants

Notably, that recent sale by Gregory Levin is the biggest insider sale of BJ's Restaurants shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$52.33). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 21% of Gregory Levin's stake.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.1m for 36.89k shares. But insiders sold 16.81k shares worth US$764k. In total, BJ's Restaurants insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership of BJ's Restaurants

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 2.6% of BJ's Restaurants shares, worth about US$31m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The BJ's Restaurants Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought BJ's Restaurants stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. We like that insiders own a fair amount of the company. So we're happy enough to look past some selling. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. While conducting our analysis, we found that BJ's Restaurants has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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