Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Purchases Shares of 1,445 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,445 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded down $2.63 on Monday, reaching $190.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,882. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $185.60 and a 200-day moving average of $169.54. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94. The company has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is 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.