Brooklyn FI LLC Takes $701,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DRI. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $1,133,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $299,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,745 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,674 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $214.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,415,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,366. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $215.68. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $202.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.80. 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 $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

About Darden Restaurants

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.