Brooklyn FI LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 660,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,377,000 after purchasing an additional 43,934 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $423,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $2,394,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $188.11 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.37 and its 200 day moving average is $176.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.