Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 83.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,870 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $362,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.05 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $22.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $198.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.01.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.