14,014 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Financial Harvest LLC

Financial Harvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,014 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. Darden Restaurants comprises approximately 1.9% of Financial Harvest LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% 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 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $2.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $209.45. 1,052,164 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,342,483. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 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 P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.21 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $214.38 and a 200 day moving average of $201.45.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. 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 dividend yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

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

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.