1,998 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Purchased by RD Lewis Holdings Inc.

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,998 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,276 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 25.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 354,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,151,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Wedbush raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $187.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.86. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week 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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.