Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Shares Sold by Pier Capital LLC

Pier Capital LLC cut its stake in Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) by 92.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,407 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 51,382 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC’s holdings in Texas Roadhouse were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TXRH. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 898,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,679,000 after purchasing an additional 403,720 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Texas Roadhouse by 76.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 893,925 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,375,000 after purchasing an additional 385,998 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Texas Roadhouse in the third quarter valued at about $66,609,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Texas Roadhouse in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,177,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Texas Roadhouse by 2,216.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 176,280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,831,000 after buying an additional 168,669 shares in the last quarter. 94.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on TXRH. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Texas Roadhouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $192.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $194.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Texas Roadhouse in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.91.

Insider Transactions at Texas Roadhouse

In related news, Director Curtis Warfield sold 4,190 shares of Texas Roadhouse stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.80, for a total transaction of $749,172.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,802,661.60. The trade was a 29.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Regina A. Tobin sold 3,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total transaction of $585,508.56. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 18,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,374.96. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,905 shares of company stock valued at $3,198,367. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Texas Roadhouse Stock Up 3.5 %

TXRH stock opened at $175.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.41. The company has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Texas Roadhouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.75 and a fifty-two week high of $206.04.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.07. Texas Roadhouse had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 34.02%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Texas Roadhouse, Inc. will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Texas Roadhouse’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.04%.

Texas Roadhouse Company Profile

Texas Roadhouse, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It also operates and franchises restaurants under the Texas Roadhouse, Bubba's 33, and Jaggers names in 49 states and ten internationally. Texas Roadhouse, Inc was founded in 1993 and is based in Louisville, Kentucky.