Anyone interested in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) should probably be aware that the Senior Vice President of Brewing Operations, Alexander Puchner, recently divested US$262k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$38.26 each. That sale was 38% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

BJ's Restaurants Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Alexander Puchner was the biggest sale of BJ's Restaurants shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$36.97. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 22.54k shares worth US$50k. On the other hand they divested 8.01k shares, for US$300k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of BJ's Restaurants shares, than buying. The sellers received a price of around US$37.42, on average. It's not too encouraging to see that insiders have sold at below the current price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn't put too much weight on it. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insider Ownership

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. It appears that BJ's Restaurants insiders own 3.4% of the company, worth about US$29m. 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?

The stark truth for BJ's Restaurants is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that BJ's Restaurants is growing earnings. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example - BJ's Restaurants has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.