630 Shares in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Purchased by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 630 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brinker International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,888,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Brinker International by 2,612.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 588,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,865,000 after purchasing an additional 566,894 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Brinker International by 1,145.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 416,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,038,000 after purchasing an additional 382,633 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 55.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,351,000 after purchasing an additional 219,836 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brinker International in the third quarter worth about $14,611,000.

Brinker International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EAT opened at $182.37 on Friday. Brinker International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.50 and a fifty-two week high of $184.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 44.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 2.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.23.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EAT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp downgraded Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $140.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Brinker International from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.48.

About Brinker International

Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands.