Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $370,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,984 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $2.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.04. The stock had a trading volume of 854,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,292,586. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $198.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.