HB Wealth Management LLC Has $868,000 Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,651 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 29,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,471,000 after acquiring an additional 3,911 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,782 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Retireful LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $1,586,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,497 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 32,275 shares of company stock worth $5,913,038 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $186.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.12.

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.