Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Lifted by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 2,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $547,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total transaction of $628,336.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,849.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $167.42. 654,534 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,121,949. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 61.43%.

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.