Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Darden Restaurants worth $67,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,264 shares of company stock worth $9,058,583 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $199.95. The company had a trading volume of 305,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,597. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $195.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.37.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

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.