Triglav Skladi D.O.O. Buys New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,966,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $67,001,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $286,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business'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 directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3%

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $203.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,844,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,467. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.