Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $34.56 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.16% of Darden Restaurants worth $34,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted 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. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd 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. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $197.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $189.09 and its 200 day moving average is $171.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

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.