96,145 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 96,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $17,949,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $405,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $200.72 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $201.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.70. The company has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, 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 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.