Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 4,346 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,696 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 4,346 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $300,446,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $269,117,000 after buying an additional 158,168 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,282,666 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $239,466,000 after buying an additional 116,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,987,000 after buying an additional 926,901 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 867,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,363,919. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.10 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.38 and a 200-day moving average of $201.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during 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 was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

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.