David Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

David Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,346 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded down $2.63 on Friday, hitting $190.83. 1,149,022 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,033,882. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $185.15 and its 200 day moving average is $169.06. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.