Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes $1.72 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,216 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,720,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.6% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,081,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 824.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,687,000 after purchasing an additional 36,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,832,000 after buying an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

DRI stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $200.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 925,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,606. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for 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%. The firm'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 predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,264 shares of company stock valued at $9,058,583. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.