PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $11.49 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,788 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $11,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $40,048,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $189.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.12. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.