Modera Wealth Management LLC Invests $302,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,615 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $192.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.