Retireful LLC Purchases Shares of 8,495 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Retireful LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,495 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,586,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

DRI traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.58. 931,685 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,102,526. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $189.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants 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.