FourThought Financial LLC Grows Position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

FourThought Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT – Get Rating) by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,806 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Brinker International were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 224.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 254,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,729,000 after buying an additional 176,405 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 74.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 58,426 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 24,923 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the first quarter valued at about $237,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 53.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 24,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 8,465 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 3.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 121,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,627,000 after buying an additional 3,610 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Wade Allen sold 12,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total value of $490,658.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,157,911.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,986 shares of company stock valued at $525,047. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EAT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Brinker International in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.18.

Brinker International Stock Performance

NYSE:EAT opened at $35.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 2.35. Brinker International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.47 and a fifty-two week high of $42.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.17.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $991.74 million. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 35.47% and a net margin of 1.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Brinker International Profile

(Get Rating)

Brinker International, Inc engages in owning, developing, and franchising Chili’s Grill and Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant brands. It operates through the following segments: Chili’s, and Maggiano’s. The Chili’s segment includes the results of company-owned Chili’s restaurants in the U.S.