Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 1,666 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,846 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $300,446,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,117,000 after acquiring an additional 158,168 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on DRI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens boosted 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. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE DRI traded down $0.85 on Friday, reaching $198.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,321,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,226. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50 day moving average is $197.67 and its 200-day moving average is $186.33.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 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.