Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,228 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $194.83 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $201.94. The stock has a market cap of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.39. 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, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.