Venturi Wealth Management LLC Takes $384,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,055 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 29.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,850 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,247,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Busey Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $3.98 on Friday, hitting $191.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,385,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,118,371. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.30.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % 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, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.