Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Patron Partners LLC

Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,666 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.73 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.88. The company has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $199.95.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

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.