Insider Selling: Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) COO Sells 7,500 Shares of Stock

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) COO Douglas N. Comings sold 7,500 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.90, for a total transaction of $1,409,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,252 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,950.80. This represents a 17.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Brinker International Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE EAT opened at $164.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 2.54. 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 1 year low of $42.99 and a 1 year high of $192.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.17.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a return on equity of 879.47% and a net margin of 5.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,278 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,413,000 after acquiring an additional 8,105 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 691,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,900,000 after purchasing an additional 28,373 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the 4th quarter valued at $81,888,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,351,000 after buying an additional 219,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Brinker International by 2,612.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 588,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,865,000 after buying an additional 566,894 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EAT shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Brinker International from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Brinker International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Brinker International from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.18.

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.