Advocate Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Advocate Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,696 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QV Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $777,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $187.69 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $177.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.36. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $189.18. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.