J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 896.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,421 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 15,672 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $2.65 on Monday, reaching $206.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 926,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,340,820. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.21 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $24.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.