Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stake Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.20% of Darden Restaurants worth $700,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted 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 increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after purchasing an additional 102,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $2.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $195.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,151,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,138,578. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.