O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $75,137,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,947,346 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DRI. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:DRI traded up $3.02 on Tuesday, hitting $192.00. The stock had a trading volume of 345,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,792. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $196.39 and its 200 day moving average is $180.29. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.