Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,633 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,633 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $189.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $181.58. 931,681 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $175.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

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.