First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,947 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 35,894 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.12% of Darden Restaurants worth $26,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,622,000 after buying an additional 193,134 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 182,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.78. The company had a trading volume of 877,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,947. The stock has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50 day moving average price is $196.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.10. 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.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 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.