CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Raises Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,019 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $75,137,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.1% in 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. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $8.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $192.28. 1,913,028 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,278,849. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.90. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.