World Investment Advisors Acquires 2,859 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,600 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,859 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $8,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $8.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $192.28. 1,913,028 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,278,094. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $196.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.03. The stock has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DRI shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

About Darden Restaurants

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.