1,801 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Bay Capital Advisors LLC

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $40,048,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $171,288,000 after buying an additional 121,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $204.89. 798,208 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,775. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $194.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.47. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

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Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 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 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.