Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.20% of Darden Restaurants worth $700,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE DRI opened at $192.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $190.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.63. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.12.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

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.