Brooklyn FI LLC Acquires New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 660,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,377,000 after acquiring an additional 43,934 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $423,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $2,394,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value 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. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.11 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.15. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.33.

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.