Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $163,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.36.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.73.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.