Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,495 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3,371.4% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 486 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 7,372 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 11,136 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $209.45 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.21 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

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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