Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 116,047 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,282,666 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 116,047 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.09% of Darden Restaurants worth $239,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,760,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $197.26 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $196.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00.

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 for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DRI. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 have sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.

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