J.Safra Asset Management Corp Increases Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 78.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 810 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 64,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,557,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 51,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,510,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $194.86 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $190.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.78. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.12. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm 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 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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.