BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 181.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,476 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 5,469 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,343,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE DRI traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $199.69. 233,036 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,281,797. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.80.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants 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.