Achmea Investment Management B.V. Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,554 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,570,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,306 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 129.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,122 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $215.87 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $210.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.60.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,463 shares of company stock valued at $4,997,442 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.

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