Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.90. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.