Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $191.12 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $187.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.04. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $201.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

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 firm 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.