Savant Capital LLC Invests $240,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,283 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,832.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 53,077 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,909,000 after buying an additional 50,331 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,335 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 204.0% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.0 %

DRI traded down $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $191.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,385,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,117,630. The company has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.41 and a 200-day moving average of $170.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.