Blue Trust Inc. Has $1.56 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,362 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens raised 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.52.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents 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 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.50 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.07. The stock has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $193.13.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. 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.