Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $1.65 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 86.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,819 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $1.36 on Friday, hitting $199.08. The stock had a trading volume of 811,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,794. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $196.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

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.