Integrated Advisors Network LLC Has $756,000 Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 203.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,637 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares during the quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 555.3% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $217.04. 1,329,353 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,324,859. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.22. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $220.79. The stock has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last 90 days. 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.