Marshall Wace LLP Raises Holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 483.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,225,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,015,372 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 1.44% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $14,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 4,198 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $140,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

BLMN opened at $7.95 on Monday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.09 and a twelve month high of $27.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $675.20 million, a PE ratio of -72.27 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.84.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.55%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BLMN shares. StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

Insider Activity

In other Bloomin’ Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Bloomin’ Brands Profile

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.