Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRIFree Report) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,969 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 523.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after buying an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on DRI

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

DRI stock opened at $194.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $179.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.63. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $194.85.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRIGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

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