Brookstone Capital Management decreased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,646 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,961 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush increased their target price 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, 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 for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $189.12.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3 %
DRI traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $181.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 931,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,956. The company has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.08.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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.
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