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

Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,954 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after acquiring an additional 13,074 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.08. The company had a trading volume of 811,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,197. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.43. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 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.