Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Shares Bought by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) by 110.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,737 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.09% of Brinker International worth $5,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twinbeech Capital LP lifted its holdings in Brinker International by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 69,201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,155,000 after buying an additional 10,844 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,336,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Brinker International by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,288 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 4,083 shares during the period. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Brinker International during the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the fourth quarter worth about $370,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Brinker International from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush raised their price target on Brinker International from $140.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Brinker International from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Brinker International from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Brinker International from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.14.

Brinker International Stock Down 0.1%

EAT stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $164.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,086,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,493,484. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.33. Brinker International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.27 and a fifty-two week high of $192.22.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.18. Brinker International had a return on equity of 879.47% and a net margin of 5.45%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ramona Hood sold 777 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,568 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,650.64. This trade represents a 8.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 2,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,798,522.81. The trade was a 10.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.