Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 136.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 28,322 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned 0.11% of Brinker International worth $6,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 1.1% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 12,015 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Brinker International by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Brinker International by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Brinker International by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,863 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period.

Brinker International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EAT opened at $138.66 on Friday. Brinker International, Inc. has a one year low of $37.25 and a one year high of $142.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of Brinker International 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 13.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EAT. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $95.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Brinker International from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brinker International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.28.

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.