Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $526,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,531 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 513.7% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 448 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities increased their price target 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, UBS Group raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $3.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $216.17. The stock had a trading volume of 949,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,886. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $220.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.31. 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 market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio 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.