Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Increased by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,497 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 452.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $915,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 31,265 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,837,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 931,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,956. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $175.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.08. The stock has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $189.12.

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.