abrdn plc Cuts Stake in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

abrdn plc cut its holdings in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 19.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 308,744 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 75,449 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned 0.69% of Brinker International worth $23,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 231.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,046 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Brinker International by 13,850.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,836 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Brinker International by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 942,510 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $68,228,000 after acquiring an additional 227,047 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 1,686.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,972 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,969,000 after acquiring an additional 182,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 1,160.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 192,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,918,000 after acquiring an additional 177,011 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EAT. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James cut shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Brinker International from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Brinker International from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.19.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Brinker International stock opened at $102.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.33. Brinker International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.90 and a fifty-two week high of $107.15.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 274.62% and a net margin of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Brinker International’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.