Dakota Wealth Management Purchases 3,296 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 25.1% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth $150,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,090 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 17.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 776,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $103,176,000 after purchasing an additional 113,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0 %

DRI stock opened at $154.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $166.11 and a 200-day moving average of $158.66. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.