LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 83,951 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after purchasing an additional 102,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.2 %
Darden Restaurants stock traded down $8.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $192.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,913,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,281,026. 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 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.68.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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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