Venturi Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,055 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 923 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,850 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Busey Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at about $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $194.84 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $187.41 and its 200-day moving average is $170.30. The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.