PharVision Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Brinker International by 3,277.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 987,334 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $130,615,000 after acquiring an additional 958,101 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Brinker International in the fourth quarter worth about $82,408,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Brinker International by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 512,613 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,814,000 after acquiring an additional 47,378 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 489,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $64,785,000 after purchasing an additional 62,265 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Brinker International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,929,000.

Insider Transactions at Brinker International

In other news, Director Ramona Hood sold 777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.23, for a total transaction of $105,073.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,650.64. This represents a 8.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.91, for a total value of $319,388.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,522.81. This represents a 10.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Brinker International Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of EAT stock opened at $149.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.96, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.49. Brinker International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.27 and a 1-year high of $192.22.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Brinker International had a return on equity of 879.47% and a net margin of 5.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EAT. Wedbush upped their target price on Brinker International from $140.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Brinker International from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Brinker International from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Brinker International from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.14.

Brinker International Profile

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.