Archford Capital Strategies LLC Takes $688,000 Position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,613 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Brinker International by 1,714.3% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 8,187.9% during the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 19,942 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 6,359 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 153.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 783 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Shares of EAT traded up $5.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $181.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,011,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,478,278. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.62. Brinker International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.27 and a fifty-two week high of $192.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.18. Brinker International had a net margin of 6.50% and a return on equity of 333.03%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EAT shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Brinker International from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of 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, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Brinker International from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brinker International presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Michael Depinto sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.36, for a total value of $1,703,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 99,297 shares in the company, valued at $16,916,236.92. This represents a 9.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.91, for a total transaction of $319,388.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,798,522.81. The trade was a 10.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,127 shares of company stock worth $2,128,062 over the last three months. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brinker International Company 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.