Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $1.34 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 452.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,860 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 28,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after buying an additional 6,258 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 129,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,828,000 after buying an additional 21,465 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $186.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.06. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $189.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.