Blue Trust Inc. Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 46.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 3,429 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business'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 value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded down $3.36 on Wednesday, reaching $197.04. 1,551,633 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,109,564. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $186.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm 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%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.52.

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.