Boothbay Fund Management LLC Buys 6,186 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 153.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 6,186 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,199 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $540,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,305 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 390,672 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $72,935,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $199.76. The company had a trading volume of 881,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,280,801. The company has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.32. 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 announced 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.