Forum Financial Management LP Invests $365,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,954 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded down $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $213.57. 1,623,714 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,320,293. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.17. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $215.91. The firm has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

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.