Crux Wealth Advisors Takes $810,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Crux Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,339 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,622,000 after purchasing an additional 193,134 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Finally, Guggenheim increased 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. One 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 MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,264 shares of company stock valued at $9,058,583 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $201.25. The company had a trading volume of 436,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,396. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $195.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

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.