Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock Holdings Increased by F M Investments LLC

F M Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 409.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 9,028 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,264 shares of company stock valued at $9,058,583. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $199.48. 1,105,585 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,286,303. The business's 50-day moving average is $195.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. 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.