2,697 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Aspire Growth Partners LLC

Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE DRI traded up $0.33 on Wednesday, reaching $198.83. 1,751,623 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,269,321. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day moving average price is $197.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

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.