Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $6.51 Million in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 49,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,507,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 123.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Brinker International in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Brinker International in the fourth quarter valued at $126,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 132.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.10, for a total value of $1,253,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,470,259.20. This represents a 21.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cindy L. Davis sold 5,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total transaction of $1,089,963.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,561.02. The trade was a 34.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,802 shares of company stock valued at $3,752,464. 1.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Shares of EAT opened at $144.93 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $155.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 2.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.96. Brinker International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.37 and a 52-week high of $192.22.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 879.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on EAT shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Brinker International from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $162.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $108.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.18.

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.