Ibex Wealth Advisors Takes $443,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,374 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 39,795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,429,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $195.72. 237,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,785. The company has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $179.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.63. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $195.75. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $192.52.

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.