Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $195.54 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased 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. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.