Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 382,633 Shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 1,145.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 416,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 382,633 shares during the quarter. Brinker International comprises approximately 1.0% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Brinker International were worth $55,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 13,850.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,836 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Brinker International during the 4th quarter valued at $81,888,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 2,612.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 588,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $77,865,000 after buying an additional 566,894 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 31.7% in the second 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 period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Brinker International by 55.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,351,000 after acquiring an additional 219,836 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $386,634.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,774.42. This trade represents a 13.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on EAT. Argus upgraded Brinker International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $62.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.29.

Brinker International Stock Performance

NYSE:EAT opened at $144.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.52. Brinker International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.13 and a 1 year high of $147.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.61.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.26. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Brinker International’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.