Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $2.83 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 76.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 6,547 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:DRI traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $209.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,227,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,297,809. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $198.38 and its 200 day moving average is $187.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.