OneAscent Financial Services LLC Buys New Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,396 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $291,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 21,498 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,711 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Legacy Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 7,442 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $5.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $189.59. 406,952 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,930. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $196.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for 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 was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,947,346. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.