Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by CX Institutional

CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 355 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,303,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $104,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 157.7% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 11,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 7,204 shares during the period. Finally, David Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.77.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.6%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $217.52 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $220.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $204.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.63.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

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.